Capri - Ignition Switch

After little activity over the last two weeks, I could not get my green 1600 Deluxe to fire up. More of that story in a future blog. In the process, the ignition switch became very loose so I thought I would clean it up and tighten the assembly. The photos show the switch and how it fits into the steering wheel console.


To get to this stage, just undo the LH bolt securing the steering wheel to the dash as the plastic lug holds the console in place. Loosen the RH nut a little as this gives a little more movement. There are two screws on the side of the console holding it together & they need to be removed.
Having it out, I thought I would clean it a little & put a few squirts of WD40 around the key & switching mechanism. So I could assemble it correctly, I marked the two sections with black marker pen as in the photo.
Little did I know that after a few squirts of the magic stuff, both marks rubbed off & I was then confused how it went back together correctly. The metal switch had numbers for the wiring but the plastic bit had nothing. Great! If this didn't go back together correctly, all hell would break loose in the wiring department.
I consulted all my manuals, parts books & nothing helped. I used the wiring diagram to list all the wires & their locations but not a lot of help. What next?
Having a second Capri can be very useful at times so I should be able to look at it & that will tell me easily. I undid the plastic bits & surprise, surprise!!. The switch was a completely different unit (RH photo). See the photos. So between 1970 & 1972, that was a change that was made.

Back to my initial problem - how does this go back together correctly?
Looking at both sections, I noticed there is a small ridge on both sections so I figured if this was aligned it would be correct. I looked carefully at the placement of all the prongs & connectors & it looked pretty right. In fact, when you look carefully & try the different positions, it will not align properly so really there is only one correct way. It is just that no one tells you this or prints it in any manuals (that I could find!).
After pushing it securely & reconnecting the battery leads, there was no smoke & everything worked OK, except the car still did not start. That is another story.
So the moral of this blog is - either mark better or take good pictures of how things go together & you will save heaps of time.