Technical Keeping the horn working

Hi
I put an aftermarket steering wheel in my '40 coupe, using the adapter kit. The problem is the very small wire that is hooled to the wire running through the steering shaft keeps breaking or the wire in the shaft breaks. My question is, What is the best kind of wire to run through the shaft to the relay? Any thought or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks and take care.
Tool Roomer

 

anyone?

 

If you have it hooked up that it is rotating the horn wire it is going to break.

 

I realize the wire has to turn with the steering shaft, it seems funny that the stock wire lasted for 35 years. I replaced the stock steering wheel when a restorer offered me way to much money for it. Someone out there has to be running an aftermarket wheel on their '40 Ford coupe.
Tool Roomer

 

Hook it up to a button and stick it in/under the dash. Done.

 

A lot of older factory horn wiring I've deat with ran up the inside of the column to a brass nubbin that stayed put, the wire never moved

The centre of the horn button made contact with it when you pushed in the centre and caused the horn to work.

 

Horn wire don't move. Is fixed to a brass ring like #7 says then your wheel has a pickup spring that rubs it. All goes to ground thru the steering shaft when you push the horn button.

 

Yup---what he said.

 

Some of you guys must not have ever seen a '40 column (or others like it), the wire runs up the middle of the steering shaft and does twist with the wheel sorta.

I would get section of "good" 14 ga 3 wire extension cord and strip one wire out of it. The
wire in "good" extension cords has more and finer strands which makes it more flexible. Also the insulation is usually softer and twists easier too.

Learned this dealing with remote cords on mobile equipment before the remotes became primarily radio controls.

 

Just off the top of my head: use some very light insulated wire, but fine-stranded as Rich B says. Coil it like a telephone handset cord, tight enough to go down the hole in the column. Then run the horn via a relay.

There will be much more wire in there than the length of the column. The twist will hopefully distribute through the entire coil and not stress the wire enough in one place to break it.

 

i used this on my plym. you put a contact ring on the shaft(insulated from it), drill a hole in the shaft, feed the wire through, attatch it to the ring, then this mounts to the mast jacket (tube).
http://www.kaiserwillys.com/product/1455/willys-jeep-electrical-horn-repair-parts-accessories

 

As mentioned previously, use the finest strand wire available. Also make sure the insulation is the softest, most flexible outer too. I like what is called instrument lead wire. It's what high end volt-ohm meters use for their test leads, and is extremely flexible. If the insulation wont allow the twisting motion, then the crimp on the end will break at that point.
Contact your local instrument repair company for this type of wire, or look on Fleabay for short pieces. It's too spendy to buy a roll for this small job.

 

I bought a kit off Lime Works. It should be exactly what you need. Here is a link to the thread that I started about it.


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=522928