VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1940 Horn Ring

OK guys, I have put up going without a horn long enough and almost got in an accident last weekend when an idiot was driving while his mind was in lala land!

I have a Special Deluxe with the three spoke steering wheel. When I baught the car in 1999 it did not have the correct wheel. I purchased a rubber ring, spring and cap from Chev's of the 40's, but still cannot get the horn to work. I can get the horn to work when I touch the steering wheel shaft to the spring. Does anybooy have a diagram of the correct installation? PLEASE HELP ME BEFORE MY CAR GETS TOTALLED!

I had a similar problem with my 38. The horn would only honk when I pushed on certain parts of the horn button and I had to push the button in a long way for even that to work. I put a bit of solder on the ends of the S wire to lengthen it but that only helped a bit. I pulled the button assembly for another inspection but couldn't find anything out of line so I put the assembly back on the steering wheel, resigned to having to use an accessory button on the side of the steering column. When I put the button back on the last time the horn started working normally and has since. I have no clue as to what I did to make it work. I put it on the exact same way as before but for some reason it's now making contact where it didn't before. Good luck.

i had the same problem as tiny..it only worked when i pushed a certain way.. what i did was take some fine emory cloth and buffed the brass/copper bushing insides and buffed the wire on the button.. it now works great.. evidently the brass/copper was tarnished up enough to keep from making good contact.. you might try that..good luck..kw

This might help. The bushing in the steering tube, 6.521, has a wire that connects to a brass washer on top of the bushing. The wire connects to the horn relay. When you push the horn button on the steering wheel it grounds the bushing to the steering shaft.



If you think that the bushing is too far away, loosen the steering tube, 6.518, upper and lower (6.760) clamps and slide the tube up. If the rubber bushing with the brass washer (6.521) is bad it will need to be replaced. Make sure you have good clean surface (no paint) where the spring, 2.817, passes through the steering wheel, 6.513.

Brian

My guess is that you are missing parts. The 1940 horn ring pieces are much different from what has been described for a normal horn button. I have checked the parts books and can find no break downs of the horn parts.....and the 1941-48 is different and I do have a picture of that. I do not have a 1940 shop manual and the blow-up may be in there.

I'm looking at my '40 shop manual. Page 221, HORN BLOWING RING ADJUSTMENT. "On the Special DeLuxe Models the horn ring contact is adjustable by turning the steering wheel lower hub housing. To make this adjustment loosen the lock screw and turn the lower hub housing until the desired horn blowing ring tension is secured (Fig. 11), then tighten the lock screw."
I could post the picture if someone could tell me how to copy it from my book to here.
Don

Don, If you have a scanner and the time you could do all old Chevy folks a big favor by scanning the manual and sending it to The Old Car Manual Project. It's a free site with a lot of reference material about these old Chevys/GMCs. If you haven' been there pay it a visit. For that fact, any of you with material not listed on the site could help with the project by scanning and sending it.

Thanks guys for all the help and suggestions. I try and get the horn working ASAP.

Thanks again!

Also have a problem with my horn and came across this thread while searching
I replaced my broken de Luxe horn ring a while ago, but couldn't test it because the wiring harness was removed.
Now everything is wired again and the horns work even if I connect the relay, but not when i push the Ring. The error is in the ground of the
Horn ring
Can anyone tell me from the pictures what is wrong? The Distance of the Sleeve to the Steering Column seems to be much too big (Picture 4)? If I dismantle everything and let the horn ring rest on the column (Picture 5+6), then it honks. Or is there something missing?

Could have solved this problem yesterday. After removing the steering wheel I also understood what is meant by "adjustable by turning the steering wheel lower hub housing".
The Hub Hoeusing has a thread and can be screwed down. Now the horn works in most cases when I press the ring. Still it looks like a part is missing?

Hi Andre'

Reinspect the bearing surface to make sure the surface is clean and has no rubber on top of the surface that could impede good metal contact. Your first picture shows the bearing surface not being perfectly clean. It can take just a small area of obstruction to stop the horn from sounding when pushing in one area while working fine when pushing in another. The design of my horn in 41 is different but the principles are the same. Check out my old posts to follow my journey to FINALLY getting my horn to work. Will try to update my pictures later.

Hope all is well with you and your family as your country struggles through the Coronavirus. Unfortunately, we are just beginning to suffer the consequences in the USA. The State of Michigan is requiring the suspending of all non essential business, and asking all of us to stay home with a few exceptions. Our grocery stores are poorly stocked, and patience with each other is beginning to wane. On the other hand it has been nice to have more time to work on our hobbies, including our cars. Keeping busy with constructive goals each day is always best for our mental attitudes and anxiety, as is being a good neighbor.

Best wishes always, Mike

Hello Mike,
As you said, today I cleaned the bearing surface and the ring on the steering wheel. Looks much better now ;-)
We are in good health, thank you for asking. Will send you a private message this weekend.