Horn Button Hook-up

rhoffa

Junior Member
Hey guys, I am working on my '39 pickup. I have what I believe to be a '37 banjo steering wheel and a '38-'39 horn button without the rod as shown in the pictures. Can you guys tell me how I can attach the horn button (without a rod) and get the horn to work. Is there a specific adaptor and horn ring that can be purchased or made? I'll be going with a 12v setup if that matters. Didn't find much after quite a bit of google hunting.
 

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You should have power to your horn all the time and will use the horn button to ground to the steering column. The button needs to be normally not grounded. You will have to be creative in this case. Lime Works sells a horn wiring kit I used on a 37 column with a banjo wheel, but I used their after-market button and wheel. Works good.
 
You will need to very carefully straighten the four tabs holding the horn button in place. When you do you'll find a spring which holds the button proud and other remaining wire bits from the top of the cut off horn rod. You will need a horn wire repair kit,
https://thirdgenauto.com/product/1928-39-ford-horn-rod-wire-contact-repair-kit/

Snip the wire off to length and finish up following the other thread you started, https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352821

Would have been better if you had just asked a follow-up question there instead of starting another.
 
Thanks for the reply 37 tuck! In my case I plan on keeping the original banjo wheel & want to keep the horn button I have. I will be using a wiring kit like Lime Works sells with the brass bushing, etc., but I am still hoping for advice from someone who may have done this or point me to a how to article to attach the horn button and get it to function properly.
 
Thanks for your reply glennpm, much appreciated! That sounds like the way to go electrically, but would this kit also attach the horn button to the steering wheel. Do you think it matters relative to 6v versus 12v? And yes, I was debating whether or not to put my question as a continuation to my previous post "Horn wiring with blocked off shaft" but I wasn't really sure if it mattered or not, but certainly willing to it the right way for sure. Thanks again for your reply.
 
You can repair the rod with a brass curtain rod (see pic) that will give you a mount for the horn button. Then you need to run a wire from inside the button to the bottom of shaft.
 

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Thanks for your reply glennpm, much appreciated! That sounds like the way to go electrically, but would this kit also attach the horn button to the steering wheel. Do you think it matters relative to 6v versus 12v?

The horn button will not be mechanically held down other than the restraint of the wire kit I linked but not a problem. It won't fall out.

The ground/earth connection made with the button pushed, through the repair wire and connected to the insulated shaft copper sleeve; completes the circuit. 6 or 12V, no difference.
 
Thanks for your reply ActionYobbo! Unfortunately I will have to do the setup without a rod since I will not be using the steering box that the rod goes through & attaches there. Good luck with your 1 ton express!
 
Thanks for your reply ActionYobbo! Unfortunately I will have to do the setup without a rod since I will not be using the steering box that the rod goes through & attaches there. Good luck with your 1 ton express!

On one of my early fords that has mustang 2 suspension the shaft is blocked. I cut the rod down and used a brush contact from a 47 jeep. It has a banjo steering wheel with the original working horn button. I found all the info I needed to do it on the HAMB.
 
Thanks Action Yobbo! I just perused the HAMB and didn't find anything specific on how to attach the horn button to the steering wheel. Can you please let me know which specific thread on the HAMB you are referring to.
 
Thanks once more glennpm! By the way I really like that link to the Techno Source for Flathead Fords.
 
This is what I would do noting that I have replaced horn wires and repaired in length and straitened horn roads in my '32 and '40.

The challenges you have are that there is no horn wire stub to connect to and that the horn road has been completely cut off.

1) To replace the horn "ground" wire you must take the horn assembly apart by bending the four tabs up.

"On the underside of the button module there are four tabs that are bent over. These tabs are what hold in the bezel that holds the button in place
Using a shop knife I pry the tabs up to the point where you can get a needle-nose pliers in to straighten them up to vertical."

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2) With a horn wire repair kit you will use the parts and ferrule included. The top of the wire must be crimped and soldered.

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3) Slip the tabs back into the module and carefully bend them over so the assembly is tight. If you break them, clean and JB Weld epoxy the stubs in place.

4) Now your reassembled module will have a wire tail sticking from it.

5) The wire tail is now to be threaded down the steering shaft and out a hole just above where you will bond an insulated copper sleeve onto the shaft.

6) Before the copper sleeve is installed solder a short pigtail on 12 to 16 gauge wire to it. You will later crimp or solder the wire from the horn button to it.

7) Cut an oval hole lengthwise that will be covered by the Jeep contact switch , https://www.kaiserwillys.com/products/steering-column-horn-contact-brush-fits-41-49-mb-gpw-cj-2a/

8) Slip the steering column pipe over the shaft now and mount the steering wheel

9) Now you need to solder or crimp and then insulate the short pigtail from the Cu sleeve to the horn wire pigtail. Keep the excess wire to a minimum

10) Push a wire zip tie in the oval hole, pull the wire from the horn button so it is snug and tighten the zip tie. Add another zip tie through the oval hole and snug up the excess wire so it's not going to rub on the steering column.

11) Now mount the Jeep contact brush.

Regarding replacing the horn rod, to me it's not needed and would be difficult to do since you have no stub to attach to. The original is swaged over. You would have to solder a new rod stub while keeping it perpendicular to the horn module and making sure that your solder fix doesn't interfere with the ID of the steering shaft, holding it up. If not, your horn module will be canted off to the side and rub and turn with the steering wheel. Even if you are able to add a stub, the only thing holding it in would be friction between it and the inside of the shaft, You still have the extra wire to deal with as I mention above.
 
The horn button turns with the steering wheel on any blocked shaft conversion. So some of what’s posted above dose not apply to what rhoffa needs to do
 
Good stuff glennpm & ActionYobbo! And indeed, very nice step by step instructions.

Amazon has the LimeWorks kits for $65, free shipping and no soldering required, not that is too big a deal. It looks to have all the parts I need to do the complete job. I am wondering though, does the outer tube column have enough meat/thickness to put threads into, to screw in the LimeWorks horn contact brush/switch? Same for the Jeep contact switch glennpm mentions above, is there enough meat to put threads into the outer tube for its two hold down screws? Surely so.

https://www.amazon.com/LimeWorks-RHK1001-RETRO-HORN-KIT/dp/B07G2WM7Z4?tag=atomicindus08-20
 
Yes the tube is thick enough. Drill and tap it. When I did mine (in addition to the screw holes) I drilled 2 holes in column one for hooking up the wiring and one for the brush/plunger. The hole to hook up the wiring is 1/2x3/4 and aligned with the hole that I drilled in the shaft for the wire to come out of. Here are some pictures of what my jeep horn brush looks like. The internal parts I made myself from pvc pipe and electrical conduit as no kits were available at that time.
 

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Yes the tube is thick enough. Drill and tap it. When I did mine (in addition to the screw holes) I drilled 2 holes in column one for hooking up the wiring and one for the brush/plunger. The hole to hook up the wiring is 1/2x3/4 and aligned with the hole that I drilled in the shaft for the wire to come out of. Here are some pictures of what my jeep horn brush looks like. The internal parts I made myself from pvc pipe and electrical conduit as no kits were available at that time.
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