41 horn wiring

mrtexas

mrtexas

Well-known member
I'm not understanding how the horn button works. Looks to me like it would be grounded without hitting the button. This is grounding the horn to beep? What am I missing? Where does the wire go?

 
Where are all the internal parts? Or is it a later column and/or wheel?
 

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looks like there are two different springs for 1941, one for passenger and one
for super deluxe.

Bob
 
In the photo in the OP doesn't the horn wire go through the hole at 8 o'clock and connect to the top side of the darker ring? When it is back together the dark ring contacts the brass ring when pressed?
 
Part of that horn ring should be insulated from the part that connects the ring to the steering wheel. Your wire connection should attach to the insulated part so it can only connect to ground when you push the ring against the spring tension. I'm not used to the 1941 but I know that they did away with the wheel mounted light switch just a few years before that in 1939. This makes the 41 cars the first to use the horn ring. The later cars usually had a brush or something to keep the horn wire from turning with the steering wheel but I don't think ford had figured that out yet.

Here are some photos from flea-pay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/322276690749?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

You will have to click 2-times for a good close up.
 
OK, the other way around, through the large center hole and then back though the smaller hole with a plunger like shown in #4 (except it appears way to long to work!).
 

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mrtexas said:
I'm not understanding how the horn button works. Looks to me like it would be grounded without hitting the button. This is grounding the horn to beep? What am I missing? Where does the wire go?

Click to expand...

Figured it out. I had to rotate the center part with the 3 screw heads to expose where the wire attaches to the ring like in the ebay picture. The center part with the 3 tabs is grounded to the wheel. The chrome part is insulated from the center part. The foam and spring(not shown) holds the chrome ring above the wheel. When the ring is pushed it grounds the chrome ring with attached wire to the wheel.

BTW my chrome ring was broken worse than the ebay part. The plater was able to solder the pot metal and re-chrome the ring.
 
I think all the parts are there on my 41 mercury but the wheel is painted under the horn ring. Is it supposed to be a bare area for the ring to contact? Horn blows if I touch wire to bare area of the steering wheel, but the ring cannot seem to find a ground.

I could not figure out what the 'insulator' is that Mac catalog shows. But in the pictures it looks like a dust seal of sorts that goes in the gap under the ring but still allows the outer part of the horn ring to touch the wheel. That part is not present on my wheel. The wire had been pulled out of the shaft, probably to install a dash button.
 
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