horn rod too tight...

Paul

Paul

Member
How tight should the light switch feel?
I "restored" the steering wheel in my '30,
Pulled the column, put new advance, throttle and horn rods in and put it all back in the car.
The horn rod went in kind of tight, I thought with a bit of use it would loosen up a bit, but now that's all in I should have freed it up some as its quite stiff to turn.
Afraid old gear oil in the shaft is acting like glue... grrr..

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Does turning the steering wheel turn the light on?

If it does I used a .45 caliber bore brush with some wd40 to clean the steering shaft
hole.

Worked for me.

JB
 
Turning the wheel does not turn turn the lights on..
Good tip about the brush..
Hate to have to pull the column again though..
 
Upper bushing looked fine, so I left it in place.
levers work nice.
Sounds like I will be pulling it apart to clean and sand.
Sure seems like I have to build a car twice to get it right once..
 
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Paul said:
Upper bushing looked fine, so I left it in place.
levers work nice.
Sounds like I will be pulling it apart to clean and sand.
Sure seems like I have to build a car twice to get it right once..
Click to expand...

i used 80 grit sand paper at the top of the rod.. spun free when i was done..
it didnt take to much
 
Most of the time with repo light/horn rods, it's the upper two inches that bind. The repo shaft is ever-so much thicker than originals. Also, the opening in the shaft swells a bit from the steering wheel nut being over-tightened at one time during its life. You might try pulling the rod out a foot or two inside the passenger compartment and sand the last two inches of the rod (up to the bottom of the light knob. Use 80 grit and really go to town on it. Occasionally try dropping the rod back into place and see if it turns any easier. Keep sanding until the rod can be spun with your finger. Then oil the top of the rod and replace all the lower parts. I have fixed tight repo switch rods a couple times this way.
This suggestion may save you the trouble of pulling the column back out. It would be better anyway to modify the replaceable repo light/horn rod by sanding it instead of filing the steering shaft hole larger. Too much and you've got a different problem.
Marshall
 
Paul said:
Upper bushing looked fine, so I left it in place.
levers work nice.
Sounds like I will be pulling it apart to clean and sand.
Sure seems like I have to build a car twice to get it right once..
Click to expand...

If the rub is at the steering upper bushing you don't need to pull it off the car again. You can take the spider and retainer out of the light body and push up the horn rod to easily access the first 3"-6" up at the steering wheel. Then you can sand it down a bit. Some graphite may help as well.
 
Minerva's rod wuz tight, made a playdough dam, around the light switch, filled it with 2 cycle oil, & 3 days later, it was perfect.
Bill W.
 
Big hammer said:
Why 2 cycle oil I thought MMO was the go to oil
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Yo,THUD,
Jist had it handy & it also freed up my speedomometer when I drilled some 1/16" holes in the main shaft area & injected sum 2 cycle oil with a syringe & laid it in the sun for 3 days:) I wuz afraid to try EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL:eek: BUT, I found that Olive Oel does wonders for OLD leather!!
Bill W.
 
This probably isn't the problem, since the thing does not turn with steering wheel, but be aware that the key in shaft taper for the steering wheel is not a normal Woodruff key...it is a Ford part with slightly shallower bottom curve than a Woodruff so that the key does not push into the light switch shaft.
 
Bruce Lancaster said:
This probably isn't the problem, since the thing does not turn with steering wheel, but be aware that the key in shaft taper for the steering wheel is not a normal Woodruff key...it is a Ford part with slightly shallower bottom curve than a Woodruff so that the key does not push into the light switch shaft.
Click to expand...
GREAT piece of info, Bruce,
I never knew about that! In a pinch, you could grind the bottom of a STANDARD key.
Bill W.
 
Pulled the column, damaged the new horn rod removing it,
Polished up the old original horn and light switch and put it back in.
Like I should have done to begin with.
Works nice and smooth and has that touch of "fair wear and tear" to look right in this car.
 
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