Rotating the horn button and steering wheel

dwaynec

dwaynec

Senior Member
It appears that when the prior owner assembled my car he was either in a hurry, or something went wrong while he was doing so. The "V" on the horn button is pointing to the left instead of down and when the steering wheel is locked the spoke that usually points down on these cars is pointing up. When the steering wheel is unlocked and the spoke is pointing down the car will move in a straight line. When the wheel is locked the wheels are slightly turned from straight ahead.

I have never worked on these systems before so I am not sure what I have to do to get things setup properly. How difficult is it to pull the horn rod and what are the procedures for doing so? Is it better to just leave the steering wheel the way it is, or should I try and rotate it? Again, if it is better to rotate the wheel, how do I go about it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
When the column is locked, the wheels can be in a couple of positions 360* apart. The column doesn't lock in the straight ahead position, the wheel may have to be turned slightly after turning the ignition key to the lock position. While you are driving straight ahead or have the wheels pointed straight ahead the "V" should be correct. The horn rod has four sides and the spider can be installed two ways. Suggest you remove the light switch and the spider turn the spider 90* and reinstall with the "V" in the proper direction. The knobs for turning the headlight switch should be at the top and bottom with the lights "off"
 
It's a '37. It looks like all of the parts are original, but I am not really sure. This is my first old Ford. I really need to get a good picture of the car that I can use as an avatar.
 
Thanks, Terry. I will give it a shot. The headlights are the next thing on my list to get working. Right now I can see that the lights are disconnected where the wiring goes into the fenders. I just have to test the switch.
 
Could be that the front wheel traction has been adjusted, without remembering to lock the steering wheel in the correct neutral position. Then everything is out of centre.

Raise front of car, put steering wheel in neutral straight ahead position. Now lock it.
Then adjust tracking.

Could be.
Chr.
 
Jack up the front of the car. Loosen the sleeve on both ends of the adjusting link on the drag link. Turn the drag link (itself) and it should adjust the steering wheel and position the V on the horn button. Easy job.
 
Do the easy things first: Remove the light switch, make sure the fork that moves the light switch is at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position while the V8 emblem is straight up on the horn button. The fork should be in that position to install the switch.
 
OK. It looks like the next day that the weather will cooperate is going to be Wed. so I probably won't work on the car until then. I will keep you posted.
 
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