51 Shoebox horn problem

[mhsprecher]

My 51 had a Juliano's repro banjo steering wheel on it when I bought it. The horn worked fine. I wanted to go back to original, so I bought a 51 wheel and horn ring. The horn does not work with the new wheel and horn ring. I grounded the horn rod in the center of the wheel and it works fine. When I put the complete horn ring on the car it doesn't work. I am thinking that the center nipple on the inside of the horn ring is not depressing the horn rod enough to make contact and work.

I tried putting a full copper penny as a shim. It worked once and quit. I tried a piece of sheet metal as a shim. No dice. I folded up some aluminum foil and put that in the center of the horn ring. It works until I tighten the screws that hold the horn ring in place and it doesn't work any more. Car is converted to 12v. I am at my wit's end. Any ideas?

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

My 51 had a Juliano's repro banjo steering wheel on it when I bought it. The horn worked fine. I wanted to go back to original, so I bought a 51 wheel and horn ring. The horn does not work with the new wheel and horn ring. I grounded the horn rod in the center of the wheel and it works fine. When I put the complete horn ring on the car it doesn't work. I am thinking that the center nipple on the inside of the horn ring is not depressing the horn rod enough to make contact and work.

I tried putting a full copper penny as a shim. It worked once and quit. I tried a piece of sheet metal as a shim. No dice. I folded up some aluminum foil and put that in the center of the horn ring. It works until I tighten the screws that hold the horn ring in place and it doesn't work any more. Car is converted to 12v. I am at my wit's end. Any ideas?

[leon bee]

I'm no help, but those are nice photos.

[tubman]

I have a '51, and I seem to remember that there should be some more parts. If you continue to have problems get back to me and 'll take mine apart and check.

[mhsprecher]

Tubman,

The exploded drawing the shop manual doesn't appear to show anything else. I have two other 51 wheels and they look the same as the one I have in the car. I also have another horn ring that has a different contact plate, but I don't think it will help. It looks like an earlier contact plate.

[glennpm]

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I'd buff up the contact points with fine paper between the spring and your plate/spring retainer half moons and both ends of the spring. These may not be yielding a sufficient ground for you.

[rotorwrench]

Looking at the parts break down for the 1951 assembly doesn't jive with the photographs. The illustrations show a wire protruding from the steering shaft that has an eye terminal that attaches to the 1A-3627 button assembly. It also shows multiple button assemblies. I'm not well versed on the 1951 shoebox cars and the parts book only shows the one illustration for 1951. This part number/nomenclature list is in order of the parts manual.

Custom Deluxe with ring 1A-3627-AA
Deluxe replaced by (1A-3627-DAZ6) 1A-3627-BA
Custom Deluxe with ring 1A-3627-CA
Deluxe 1A-3627-DAZ6
Custom Deluxe with ring 1A-3627-EAZ6
The next entry is the terminal screw
Screw, (horn ring to steering wheel) No. 10-32 X 7/8" 50176-S8

My parts book is of the 1953 issue and includes 1952 & 1953 models. The secondary numbers are likely later replacement parts since the original issue from 1949 through 1951.

Another clue I found was the horn wire and button set up P/N 1A-14308-B. This part was also used up through 1953 so it has to be for a horn ring type set up with a button from the steering shaft. It's nomenclature reads: 57 1/2" long with bullet terminal at one end & button terminal with insulator, spring, and retainer at other end.

Now I don't know how this works but it may have a spring that makes it protrude more from the steering shaft. Someone may have modified it to work for the other application, The wire likely exits from the bottom of the steering box if it's like other Fords.

[mhsprecher]

Here is the illustration from the shop manual. It shows everything I have. One difference may be that the contact plate and the index plate are one piece.Not sure about the contact in the steering wheel. I don't see a drawing of that in the shop manual. I only have the chassis parts manual, so nothing on the steering wheel.

[glennpm]

How about this?

[mhsprecher]

Glennpm. Good idea.

[rotorwrench]

The horn ring switch appears to have a carbon contact where the button contact touches it for the ground path continuity. As long as it is in contact, that part should work. From there, it would be the contact surfaces in the ring switch. Stuff can get crusty over a time.

[Old Magnet]

The 51's used two different horn ring springs. A heavy version and a light version. Could be your heavy version spring is bottoming out before making contact.

[18tillidie]

I have exactly the same issue with my ‘50… I knew the horn wasn’t working, but then discovered that it actually does when I pulled the wheel off to do a wheel alignment… I am assuming the steering wheel is not actually connecting the contact of the center button to ground, but I didn’t have time at the time to figure out why… your penny experiment supports that theory.
I will get back to my horn issue eventually, so I’ll either hope for a solution here or share if I figure one out!

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

Here is the illustration from the shop manual. It shows everything I have. One difference may be that the contact plate and the index plate are one piece.Not sure about the contact in the steering wheel. I don't see a drawing of that in the shop manual. I only have the chassis parts manual, so nothing on the steering wheel.

[mhsprecher]

Old Magnet, I have both springs, but I have been using the heavier one. Let me try that. Great Idea!

[mhsprecher]

Update: My horn works. I tried the lighter version of the horn spring. No difference. I looked at raising the contact in the wheel, but wasn't quite sure how to accomplish that, so I tried my aluminum foil trick again, but with thinner folded over piece of foil. That did the trick. Not elegant, but hidden, so I am happy for now. I wish I knew what the real problem is, but I will take the win for now. I also get a slight shock when I press the horn ring, so it's a bit awry.

[glennpm]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

Update: My horn works. I tried the lighter version of the horn spring. No difference. I looked at raising the contact in the wheel, but wasn't quite sure how to accomplish that, so I tried my aluminum foil trick again, but with thinner folder over piece of foil. That did the trick. Not elegant, but hidden, so I am happy for now. I wish I knew what the real problem is, but I will take the win for now.

Good that it works for now.

Your foil is reducing the clearance between the horn wire nub and your wheel. Adding a thin washer would do the same permantly. You would need a small washer such as for a #8 machine screw. It could require opening the washer's hole up a bit for the horn wire and and then carefully removing any burrs from the drilling or filing. You would of course have to disconnect the horn wire where it exits your steering box, pull the wire up and slip the washer on between the plastic sleeve and the spring. Large True Value hardware stores stock lots of plastic sleeves and you may be able to do this instead of the washer.

[Clem Clement]

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