VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 horn replacement

Hello, all

i have a 1940 master that has a bad horn button. The horn is good, I know this for sure it is bypassed to another switch now. But i would like to get it back to original or close to it.

Now to the problem i cannot get the steering wheel off or find a video or diagram to see what if anything is missing/broken.

thanks for help, if you need more info just let me know.

P.S. this is my first time using the form so if i did it wrong don't get mad just tell me how it should be done.

An effective way to remove the steering wheel is to loosen the nut (don't remove it completely) so there is a noticeable space between it and the wheel. Position your legs to pull up on the bottom side of the wheel. Now hit the center of the shaft with hammer and brass drift (or other soft metal bar). A number of sharp blows are better than a gimandous whollup.

Used that technique on a lawn tractor wheel that had rusted in place for ????? years. Took about 20 blows but it finally came off.

will give that a try, started to do that but chickened out was going to put PB blaster on it to.


thanks

On my 38 I used a three place puller. I fashioned three J hooks from bolts that are held in the puller by nuts. Tiny described the method to me and it works very nicely.

Hi,

I go with the least amount of force method. I have spent days repairing cracks in steering wheels so would not ever pull on the wheel while someone tapped on the loose nut holding my steering wheel. I use a small 4" to 5" puller that uses only two threaded bolts that attach well into the base of the steering wheel. I tighten the large center bolt up around 15 pounds of pressure then tape on the bolt with about a 6" swing of a brass hammer. If this isn't enough to loosen the wheel after about 5 or 6 tapes I tighten the puller some more to about 20 to 25 pounds and increase the length of my swing.

Like described above the PB Blaster will help and the steering wheel should pop right off. I also am very concerned with damaging my steering wheel in the button area so place a 1/2" socket on the puller bolts between the wheel and bottom of the puller. I think it distributes the pulling area so the pressure is not ALL on the bolt hole threads.

Send me a PM with your email address and I will send you some pictures of my technique.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. Once you take the steering wheel off and cleanup the grooves on the shaft you should find the wheel easily comes off with each attempt using the puller. Like 5 to 10 pounds of pressure without the tap of a hammer.

My 38 does not have the holes to use a puller with. If it did that would be the only method I would use.

I have a three J hook puller that I use on my '41. I loosen the nut, put the bolt in the center of the bolt and the three J hooks under the edge of the wheel. Works good. That reminds me I need to work on my horn button and center my steering wheel. Just put on new back motor mounts, a transmission mount and a new tie rod. Fixed a radiator leak with Bar's Leak. Back in business again. All I need now is a good used (not old) set of WWW 6:00 X 16 tires. My tires are good tread and good WWW but they are old and weather cracked. I could go to radial but since my '41 is stock (as close as a novice can get) I am going to stick with Bias tires. BTW Charlie I will never embarace our '41 owners with a Fulton or fender skirts. Enough. I'm beginning to sound like Charlie. JIM

Old216, If you run a thread into the 2 holes for the horn "S" wire you can use a standard 2 bolt puller as described in previous postings. That way there is very little to no risk of damaging the wheel in a normally visible position.
Tony

Thanks for all the help.

I will be trying to get this completed on Monday have to go to mom and dads this weekend and help them put in new kitchen floor so no car Fun for me this weekend. will take photos and video of the disassembly.

As old216 noted above I prefer the universal puller with "J" hooks. Back in the day when I was limber I did it the way Chipper recommended. I can no longer get my knees up under a steering wheel properly to effectively press it up so I came up with the method mentioned.

If the "J" hooks are properly placed no damage will occur to the steering wheel. You may need to spread the "J" opening a bit to get proper fit on your steering wheel. You may also find that slipping a short length of rubber hose over the curved, "J", ends will help protect your paint.

To complete the circuit and make the horn honk the "S" wire must contact the edge of the hole it passes through while at the same time contacting the copper ring on the mast jacket bushing. The horn system is already problematic enough because that's sometimes difficult to make happen. A downside to threading the "S" wire holes is that it enlarges them. Enlarging the holes can make the issue worse.

Poor contact of the "S" wire through that hole was enough of a problem that there was an aftermarket "fix" sold that had a short spring mounted to a small plate with ears. The ears would wrap around the "S" wire while the spring made constant contact with the top of the steering shaft. This made having to contact the side of the hole unnecessary.

At any rate you have several methods to choose from, use whatever you feel is best for your circumstances and good luck. An additional thought is to place a bit of anti-seize on the splines before reinstalling your steering wheel. It'll make getting it off again easier. Having done that on mine I no long need to use the puller most times. A simple rocking motion while pulling up usually pops it right off.

Thanks for all the help got it off last lighthttps://vccachat.org/images/icons/default/Clapping.gif
now have to get bushing out and get new parts and put all back together.

Thanks for all the help got it off last night.
now have to get bushing out and get new parts and put it all back together.
looks like there is a lot of old rubber in the col em that is
in small chunks a small silver bushing and a spring. that is all i can see for now.

You might find it easier to pull the column jacket of to replace the top bush. I didnt measure the depth of the old bush so now I will have to set the new 1 by trial and error, measure from the top of the jacket tube to the top of the bush and set the new bush to the same depth or a little shallower so it is easy to adjust after assembly.
Tony

unfortunately some one at some point in time has tried to fix the horn with tape and silicone so it will be a trial and error type fix. just my luck.

Here are some 41 pictures of my horn button. Hopefully, they can lead to questions to help you solve your problem.

https://goo.gl/photos/cJEWij7sLiF348rd8

https://goo.gl/photos/rfm6NxBzm1jh7jcX9

https://goo.gl/photos/Tos9XcBzavtmudLg8

Good luck, Mike

P.S. Here is a source for the bearing Horn Bearing

thanks for all the help. got the wheel off, put the new bearing in working on adjustment now. but found the drivers side horn is not working. think it is bad, removed cover did test to ground it was grounded adjusted point like contacts in horn so they would not be in contact but still shorted to ground? i think it should be open at this point am i correct or not? if it is bad can you get a new coil, and is that the low or high note side?
I know that is a lot of questions all at the same time sorry.

I m happy to be corrected but I think the points should be closed at rest and open when the button is pushed, this opens the circuit turning the magnet off allowing the points to close again turning the magnet on opening the points. If the points dont open adjust them so they are just closed allowing the magnet to pull the diaphram and open the points. There isnt much travel in the diaphram but the diaphram flexing is what makes the noise and varying the points gap changes the tone.
Tony

holly crap just looked at the start of the thread i have be working on this for over a month https://vccachat.org/images/icons/default/Shockked.gif
But good news i got it all adjusted and working last night.