Guest Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hello. Apologies for the title !! I'm in the process of changing the original steering wheel to a wooden one. All has gone well, except that I'm stumped with regard to making the horn work and the fitment. I expect that the set-up is the same as all standard wooden wheel conversions ?? My belief is that the conversion still uses the brass sleeve fitment which goes through the original steering wheel. The sleeve does fit through the wooden wheel boss. When the chrome centre of the new wheel is pushed the three pins, that you can see in the photo, push out and touch the boss body making connect to earth; this should in theory make the horn work - I've yet to test that theory. It must be me, but I'm stumped. Any help will be much appreciated and if owner has done the conversion and used a different method I would be very interested to hear of it. Thanks in advance and I have attached 5x pics to explain (poorly !!) the above. Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 From the photos it looks to me that the horn pencil doesn't reach. You may need to adjust the steering column outer to raise the contact ring. I don't know how the 'new' horn button works, but you may need to improvise from first principles. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 yes if you can see down to the ring the outer is too low, give it a good pull and wiggle they normally move easy, there must be a small gap or the horn will toot all the time or on bumps and drive you mad the hole in the wheel hub may be a a little tight , seen some on these wheels , the plastic biro case needs to be able to 'float' pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hello. It's true what they say: "necessity is the mother of invention" !! All done and working a treat. I cut the contact brush in half and clipped off the brass contact which would have been at the steering wheel end of the insulated sleeve. Fitting the steering wheel in place I then measured the distance the sleeve had to protrude towards the horn contact ring. once that was determined I used a mini-cable tie to secure the sleeve in place so that it did not move away from the ring and the brass contact remained in contact with the ring. Once happy with that I placed a couple of drops of superglue on the cable tie / sleeve to hold in position. With the other brass contact, I removed this and left an amount of wire showing to which I secured an electrical connector to. Having done that, it was then a simple case of connecting the wire lead from the new horn push to the modified contact brush unit. Steering wheel fitted in place and electrics connected, a push of the horn revealed a very loud toot toot !! The new wiring / horn operating system has certainly improved the loudness of the horn. Of course over a period of time carbon / pitting builds up and this reduces the efficiency; so job has helped to eliminate that. One final question, I have attached a photo of the steering wheel nut which seems to have had better days, however I note in the workshop manual it suggests peening the nut - is this what the marks are on the edge ?? If so, is it worth putting this nut back as it is OR should I buy a Nyloc nut and use that OR use a locking tab washer with a new nut.........what's the best option ?? Job done and photographs attached. Thanks to everyone for their advice. Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 No peening or locking tab just get around the right torque, its only a slim nut and a taper shaft, too tight will stuff the threads and can split the ally hub those are hammer and c hisel marks from muppet action when a socket is not available can be two af nut sizes 1 1/8" or 15/16"af its a safety critical fixing leave the chiseled nut to the 'Nuts' Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 Thanks Pete. I will grab a new nut and torque accordingly. 1 1/8" on mine. Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 guess if the threads are sound then a quick fettle with a file to tidy the hexagons would be OK as same hubs are a bit 'rough' on the nut face a decent washer would help , ie it cant get dug in and resist tigthening justa thought Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 those are hammer and c hisel marks from muppet action when a socket is not available I have the same muppet action on mine too! What is the appropriate torque rating for the wheel nut? Or where could I find it? Nothing I could find in the workshop manual I have or the Haynes.. I have a '69 GT6 mk2. TIA Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Hello Jerry. It's 28 - 30 lbf ft or 3.9 - 4.2 kgf m If you have the Haynes manual (no.112, light blue in colour) it's listed on page 191. This manual covers all GT6 & Vitesse 62 - 74. I did what PL suggested and filed the nut smooth - fits & looks a treat (not that I can see it now !!). The only extra bit I needed was a slighter thicker washer as the new boss sits slightly deeper. Hope that assists ?? Regards. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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