Shifting into Neutral

Set the emergency brake, turn the ignition key to the run position, move the shifter to neutral. Keep your foot on the emergency brake for a little bit to make sure it doesn't pop up again. It has an automatic emergency brake release that's operated by engine vacuum. Once the vacuum reserve is gone, it won't pop up again until you push up on the manual release lever that's under the dash next to the emergency brake pedal assembly. Hope that helps! Jim

I got the emergency brake released however while pushing down on the E-brake the ignition cylinder won't rotate into the run mode.

It should. Try moving the steering wheel to one side or the other while turning the key. This is a 1979 model, correct? If so, there's no electronics involved. Hope that helps! Jim

Correct. I'll give that a try.

Ok. If you still can't get the ignition key to turn, something else is going on inside of the steering column. Most likely the rack and sector assembly is broken. If that's the case the upper steering column will need to be disassembled to fix it. Hope that helps! Jim