Left turn switch starts car?

[Mountaineerfan 44]

Car was running great. I haven’t touched anything electrical. 
Sitting at a light, I turn the left signal on, and suddenly got a little bit of smoke coming from around the steering column. I quickly pulled over and turned everything off. I didn’t have any turn signals or brake lights. I got the car, back home, and put a new turn signal switch in, and it’s still doing the same thing. Anybody have an idea why with the ignition off, that the starter would go when I turn the turn signal left? 
Trying to get back on the road! @Midlife?

[Mach1 Driver 560]

OEM style wiring (old style fuses) or Aftermarket with new style fuses and relays?

69 or 70?

Did you see anything shorted or burned when you removed the turn switch (where the smoke was)?

[Midlife 814]

Something is obviously miswired or you have a shorted wire somewhere that's cross-feeding from turn signal to Neutral Safety Switch wiring.  Nothing obvious comes to my mind as to why that is.  The started is controlled by red/blue wires; dash lamps are blue/red wires, but still, no obvious connection.  Left turn signal is green/white. 

[RPM 1,190]

After fixing your issue, I'd recommend doing the horn relay mod.

[Mountaineerfan 44]

Thanks, all! I’ve got the starter thing sorted (somehow…).

Next issue: brake lights work. When headlights are turned on, the internal circuit breaker keeps flipping. Brake lights do not work. Taillights do not work. Plug to switch gets hot. Following the wires it seems a black/red wire and a brown (or black, hard to tell) wire are the hot culprits, and they even jump when the circuit flips. I’ve attached a video. I’ve removed the gauges so I could better see the harness. 
seems like there’s a short somewhere, but where?

[Mach1 Driver 560]

If you have a 1969, then there is a wire diagram in the How Tos section below, also a Schematic, posts #1 and #11 in the list.

Black with red wire 385 goes from the flasher to the turn switch, supplying power to any four of the corner bulbs. That's where it is getting the power to the short. But no black or brown wire is shown on the wire diagram going to the turn signal switch, shown on pages 2-E24 and 25 of the diagram, or page 3 of the schematic. Schematics don't show wire numbers- they are meant to simplify the circuit so you can understand it, while wire diagrams actually show the wire routing, plugs, colors and wire numbers and how the car is actually wired.

[Mountaineerfan 44]

I finally got a copy of the colorized wiring diagram. Does the red circled area indicate that these wires are connected?

[Mach1 Driver 560]

6 hours ago, Mountaineerfan said:

I finally got a copy of the colorized wiring diagram. Does the red circled area indicate that these wires are connected?

Yep that is showing a splice

[Mountaineerfan 44]

BTW, found the major culprit.  

While doing work in the engine compartment, I (or someone working with me) had somehow pulled the wiring harness away from the shock tower, and it had touched the exhaust manifold bolt.  This managed to burn a small section of the harness, and fused the left turn signal wiring to the wire leading to the solenoid.  It took a long time for me to find, as the spot was on the bottom of the harness and not visible upon looking down at the wiring.  It wasn't until I actually grabbed the harness that I felt the burnt spot.  So some wire splicing later, it's fixed.  

Yeah, hitting the left turn signal kicked on the starter, but there was no power to the coil, so it didn't actually start, just kept spinning.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Wow, that's crazy- glad you found it.