ignition question

[texasmoparman]

hey there ladies and gents,

i have just bought a 1969 Dodge Dart GT. It was an original 273 car, but it was swapped to a 340 a while back. The car has 34k original miles on it and what have you.

I am new to working on cars and what not, so this might be a dumb question for y'all. The guy i got the car from parked it for the winter at his mothers since he lived a few towns over. He took the cylinder out of the ignition so that it would be a little harder for someone to try and take the car. It sat for about 4 months or so before i got my hands on it. When he was showing me the car he just simply alligned the cylinder back into the car, and used a flat head screw driver to fire it up.

I did that a time or two and it worked. Now it does not seem to work. When i turn the screw driver and cylinder the starter does not engage, though the gagues do show that energy is being drained when i turn the "key". I called a dodge dealership to ask for some advice. They told me to check the terminals, battery, and to replace the negative wire connected to the battery. So i went and replaced the wire, and i go to start the car up. It still does not start, but now when i try and get out of the car after trying to turn it over, i get a nice shock, so im sure there is power feeding through the car.

Any help would be appreciated..

[440roadrunner]

automatic? neutral safety switch? Can you jumper the relay on the firewall?