Has anybody shortened an early Ford horn/light switch rod? Need my ‘35 horn rod to be shorter to fit my application and I have searched but I am coming up empty. Anybody done it?
Wondered about that myself...how to make the crimp on the end for the clip. Had thought of brazing a washer on the end, but then though how to get it out if need be? If you're just wanting to use it for looks, I think a 3/16th rod would fit in the tube, maybe 1/4 inch? Then bore and thread the rod that was used inside the tube, thread it for 10/32-etc, and then a bolt/washer should hold it in place. Just braze the insert to the rod. Just tossing out an idea I thought of, but haven't done yet.
I have one in my sedan that is not hooked to the light switch, but the horn is operational. I cut the bottom foot or so off the rod. I put a very slight bend in the rod so it stays in the shaft and turns with the wheel. The horn wire runs out the bottom of the F-1 box I have it hooked to.
i did it, got a 30-31 A wheel in my 34 and shortened the a rod to the 34 steering shaft. i started with a chunk of 1/2" shaft in the lathe. machined until i had a part 2" long, drilled thru the center for the horn wire, about a 1/2" on each end turned down to fit inside the tube, the remaining 1" in the middle turned down to the od of the tube, drill a countersink on the ends to help the wire find the hole, put it together and rosette weld a spot on each end, your done. hardest part is figure the length. you need another original unit to see how far out the bottom its supposed to be for the length to be rite on so it works.
So you just made the shaft the correct length for the light rod? I may be able to do that but it depends on whether my shaft length is right, as in where the wheel ends up inside the car. I was wondering if anybody actually shortened the switch rod. It must have a wire inside of it running to the end correct?
no, i shortened the horn rod to fit a shorter steering shaft. yes, there is a wire inside. first thing is unsolder the wire at the bottom end. just heat it up at the bottom, while pulling on the top, it'll pull out. i used the lathe to make the part for the joint because #1, i have one, and #2 it gives you a thicker piece to weld on with a mig. a skilled tig welder may get away with just slipping a smaller tube inside,, like brake line or some thing, but the correct fitting size may be hard to find, and with the lathe i make the size i need. as stated before, the most important part is to get the correct length when its done. thats why i suggest looking at any ford column A thru 39 and see how much rod should be extending beyond the bracket that the switch ***embly slides onto, so the little C clip is in the rite place and the horn contact will touch. going by memory, i believe when you place a straight edge across the bracket, the rod is 1/8" longer. but my memory would get you in trouble most likely. its your lucky day because i have another to do, and perhaps now is as good a time as any. tomorrow, i'll post some pics and dimensions and we can both move on to the next dilemma.
ok, get comfortable, long story. the rod i was going to use had a loose fitting switch lever on the tube. further examination revealed it was cracked. i've seen this before, they tend to crack around the bump at the top where the lever sits on. they are quite fragile and can crack when you try to straighten the lever. so i decided to fix that first, then do the shortening in a part 2 so i dont run out of picture limit. part one-fixing a horn rod. first, you may want to make a wooden holder like shown in my pics. you will use it extensively thru the project to hold the tube in the vise without crushing it. they are very thin, only about .015 . to start, bend back the four tabs that hold the horn ****on on. be careful, get the tabs straight so they pull thru the horn lever with out a fight. next with the tube clamped in the wood/vice heat bottom end with a solder gun while pushing the tip with a screwdriver until the end comes off the wire. you should now have the little br*** end, and the fiber insulator if its ok to reuse. in the 1st photo you see my old horn wire, still quite good actually, my now removed light lever, circled in pen is the end piece and insulator, and horn ****on parts. the new package is a horn repair kit from brattons i hadnt used in my last job being too impatient to wait for it. at the bottom is a bunch of hardware store plastic i was going to try and use, but none were correct. the insulator from this rod is not good, so i will either make one from the big piece of nylon, or open the kit. next i cut off the top inch or so of the rod where it was cracked,and now to make a new part for the lever to attach. made a shaft in the lathe that fits into the rod, and then milled it square on top for the lever to mount, then drilled thru the shaft and threaded it for a pan head screw to hold it all together. next, drill two holes near the end to braze it on. note it is turned down to fit inside the rod, and you should file a flat spot on one part because the ford rod is double wall where the seam meets, and your part has to fit without expanding the tube. also at this time notice the square ends of the rod are clocked so the lights will be off when the lever is vertical. in this case the seem was straight so i could use that for my guide, but many times the rod has a twist in it so you must make it clocked with the square at the bottom so the fork will be vertical with the lever at the top. file out the inside of the rod for burrs, slide it together, braze it and file it all smooth so it fits in the steering shaft. all fixed! now we'll shorten it
part 2. i measured another old ford box to get the length of the rod sticking out the bottom. hard to see in the pic, but its like this, from the switch mounting bracket, 5/8"total to the tip, 3/8" to the end of the rod, 1/4" to the center of the C clip groove. next, i put my newly fixed rod in my car with steering wheel on and used a hacksaw blade to mark where the switch bracket ends, this is zero for the figgerin. now, in this case 43 1/2" is zero, so i would need another 3/8 for the rod length measured from the bottom of the lever up top where it sits on the steering shaft. i just random cut the rod off 4-5" up from the bottom, then add in my splice tube i made on the lathe to find where to cut for finish. remember to file some flat spots for the seam in the rod, and remember to get the square end clocked. i then braze two holes 180 degrees apart, rosette style and file smooth. the ford tube is about 3/8"od, and perhaps with some filing and fitting a piece of 5/16 brake line or good grade tubing could be used instead of making parts on the lathe. problem is the ford tube is just a rolled seam so its not really perfect size any where, and the seam makes it sorta egg shaped inside. i like my lathe made parts for some thing heavier to weld on. all this for a 30-31 A wheel in a 34 coupe. i like the 4 spoke a wheel, and last year all i had in stock was a 28-29 horn rod. they are quite a bit taller from the wheel and as time went by i didnt like it, so now its fixed! what do ya think?
one more bit of rambling, soldering it together. the first time, the ford insulator was bad too. so i ordered the kit, but before it came i used a thick piece of fiber board from an old electric circuit board. worked good, could not melt while soldering. this time, i was worried about the insulator in the kit as it looked to be plain old plastic, not nylon like the big piece i have in the first pic. sure enough it melted a bit leaving the end a little tilted. not really a big deal because you file off all the excess to make a nice contact surface any way, but a warning, you gotta be fast. so, with one end done, pull the wire out the other end, pull it tight and then bend all the copper strands around the rivet spread out to hold it in place while you solder it, then file off the excess. should be nice and snug when done. next time i will machine one out of better material
That is really some great work there and you have made me confident to go ahead and shorten mine. I am using an F-1 truck box in my A-V8 and want to run all the stock A wiring and light switch so this will help immensely. Thanks for your time posting all this!
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