[DeTomaso] Mangusta Help!! I let the smoke out of the ignition switch!

[steven.liebenow at att.net]

Goose owners,

Just pulled into Walmart, turned off the car, and saw a wisp of smoke coming out of the dash, out of the keyway to the ignition switch....heart goes boom.....NOOOOO!  I didn't see that....!!!!

Small plume of smoke gets bigger....I'm scrambling to get out of the car, to get to a wrench...to disconnect the battery.......Chinese fire drill at it's best!   Had a quickie fits all wrench in the glove box, grab it and disconnect the neg. cable.....but by this time the cabin was full of smoke.

Readers Digest......Smoked the Ignition switch. Bad. Main +12V to fuse panel-pink is now naked and ignition switch is smokin hot!  

Hotwired the car to get it back to my buddies place in Apple Valley (30 miles from Barstow....) but only two lites away, about a mile! Phew!    Switch is ugly! No longer has detents in it.....  I think the switch shorted internally.......it had been getting warm with the headlites on, but I was only running parking lites today.....

Anyone replaced theirs????   What does it substitute to?   I have "heard" Alfa Romeo, but my buddy sez that the key crosses over to Fiat!  No surprise there!    Number on switch is Q165B.

Looks like it fits a Fiat Tractor from what's listed on Ebay....... Anyone sell tractor parts for a Fiat?   :)))

Oh well.  I'll probably drop a Ford switch into it for the drive to Vegas so I can get around with lites etc.
Big job will be replacing the #10ish wire that I smoked back to the fuse panel.  Hopefully it didn't burn thru any others,............

Never mock the car gods!!!!
Went to Fab Fords today and under special features I wrote "It made it here..."   DOH!!!!

See ya in Vegas!!!
Steve

Just in case you have info, you can call me on my cell....408-313-7106