47-55.1 Horn connection: ’47 to ’52 steering wheel on ’74 to ’91 column.

[Second Series]

Currently have an ‘80’s GM Steering column in the ’47 Chevy truck. Is there a Horn contact ring/signal cancel cam available with the Horn contact at the 12 o’clock position?
I watched a few videos and it looks like the horn contact ring needs to be at the 10:30 position to allow the turn signal cancel evenly on the late GM units. The AD steering wheel has the horn contact spring at the 12 o’clock position. There is a screw hole for the (upper)horn contact at the 10:30 position on the AD steering wheel, so drilling a new hole for the horn contact ring is not an option.
I thought I’d ask here if anyone has mated an AD steering wheel to a late GM column and retained the function of the horn button.

[mr48chev]

Have you even looked at how bad the fit of the wheel to the column is? By taking the horn piece and spring off and just setting the wheel down on the spline and standing back an looking at it? I'm not sure how you would cover up that 1/2 inch or so of exposed workings of the turn signal switch so it doesn't show. If you figure that out and it is simple you probably have something that you can market to others.

I'm thinking that you will have to do some mods to the tube from the canceling cam/horn contact on that tube and maybe some mods on the wheel where it goes through the the wheel to get that part to work.

Looking at this contact piece for that wheel and the pigtail that goes in the tube off the later unit it is going to take some figuring to have the piece for the wheel work with the with the contact inside the canceling cam.

[fauXGT]

The newer aftermarket stock looking 15" wheels are made for the later columns. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/47-54...ck,405807.html Like a Flaming whatever, or a tilt GM. A much wider back compared to old stock wheels that are made to only cover a 2" wide column.
Mr48 has it right with the gap and mounting that will be visible between late column and old stock wheel.
If you have power steering, get a later 15" stock looking wheel that is wider in the back.

[joedoh]

you just need to drill a 3/8 hole at 2 oclock on your wheel, then you can use the spring through the hole to the horn plate. ididit has a how to on where and how to drill old wheels for new horn parts.

[Second Series]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Have you even looked at how bad the fit of the wheel to the column is? By taking the horn piece and spring off and just setting the wheel down on the spline and standing back an looking at it? I'm not sure how you would cover up that 1/2 inch or so of exposed workings of the turn signal switch so it doesn't show. If you figure that out and it is simple you probably have something that you can market to others.

I'm thinking that you will have to do some mods to the tube from the canceling cam/horn contact on that tube and maybe some mods on the wheel where it goes through the the wheel to get that part to work.

Looking at this contact piece for that wheel and the pigtail that goes in the tube off the later unit it is going to take some figuring to have the piece for the wheel work with the with the contact inside the canceling cam.

Here is a picture of the mis-match, it’s not that bad. I’m thinking I can use epoxy to form a smooth transition. Maybe use a ring that matches the steering column and transition that to the steering wheel. A bigger issue is that when I tighten down the steering wheel nut, the wheel doesn’t turn easily like the base of the steering wheel bottoms out before the nut is fully tightened. Either a spacer, or cut out from the wheel should address that.

Here is a picture of the spring contact that goes in the cancel cam that I have. There is a video online that shows how to modify and install it. For now I pushed the spring contact out of the ’47 bushing and was able to get continuity from the horn button to the wiring harness.

Originally Posted by fauXGT

The newer aftermarket stock looking 15" wheels are made for the later columns. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/47-54...ck,405807.html Like a Flaming whatever, or a tilt GM. A much wider back compared to old stock wheels that are made to only cover a 2" wide column.
Mr48 has it right with the gap and mounting that will be visible between late column and old stock wheel.
If you have power steering, get a later 15" stock looking wheel that is wider in the back.

Hey! That looks pretty cool, I could use the original horn button with that. I notice they put the hole for the spring contact at 12 o’clock. I wonder what cancel cam goes with that wheel? I’ll ask them. I’ll try to make my original wheel work, but this could be a good replacement later.

Originally Posted by joedoh

you just need to drill a 3/8 hole at 2 oclock on your wheel, then you can use the spring through the hole to the horn plate. ididit has a how to on where and how to drill old wheels for new horn parts.

I’m not sure that would solve the issue. The spring contact in the column is at 2 o’clock, that contacts the ring on the cancel cam. The tube on the cancel cam at the 10:30 position serves 2 purposes. One to hold the spring contact that connects to the horn plate, and Two to keep the cam aligned with the steering wheel during rotation. I did watch the ididit video, it really helped me understand what is going on in there.
I assembled what I have with the spring contact at the 12 o’clock position, this offsets the signal cancel cams clockwise. When I get on the road I’ll see how that works out. I was thinking that I could build up a new Cam lobe in the correct position for this orientation. I was mistaken in my post as the Two screw holes in the steering wheel are for the puller(and not for the upper horn contact). That one puller screw hole is at 10:30.
I found this post that mentions the ’54 wheel hub is a good fit:
https://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vbo...=743239&page=2
Here is a discussion on cancelling cams:
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=515103
That gave me the idea to change search criteria and I found a ’67-’68 Corvette cancel cam that looks like it is clocked different than the ‘80’s version. This might work, here is a picture of a white one. Notice the spring contact tube is located outside of the two cam lobes. Further searching I found another site that sells a cancel cam compatible with 1967-68 GM Passenger, 1960-73 GM Truck. I’ll look out for one in the parts yard to confirm, unless someone here has seen one? Is the spring contact on these years at the 12 o’clock position?

[leegreen]

Originally Posted by Second Series

A bigger issue is that when I tighten down the steering wheel nut, the wheel doesn’t turn easily like the base of the steering wheel bottoms out before the nut is fully tightened.

If you trim the bottom of the wheel it will get very close to the turn signal stalk. Here is an AD wheel that I trimmed on a late 80s Camaro column. The
stalk is too close to the wheel, your fingers won't fit between it and wheel. Without trimming there is not enough spline / thread on the shaft.

I can't help with the horn button issue, the horn parts in my column came pre-broken and I have not gotten around to looking at the repair.

[leegreen]

I don't have a picture to show it but the fit between this column and the wheel hub shape was not bad.

[leegreen]

The modern column is also fatter than the old one, I cut a larger notch between the gauges and centered it up so I could keep the column higher in the dash.

your second picture reminded me of this. Something to think about if you don't have your seats in yet to try the seating / wheel position.

[Second Series]

Thanks leegreen, that gave me some things to consider. I used a router to modify the stock steering wheel. The turn signal stalk doesn’t have any switches, it comes out at an angle, so I mounted it upside down to gain clearance. I bent the tilt lever to make room for the repositioned turn signal stalk. I torqued down the column nut and everything fits. The horn contact didn’t work, so I removed the wheel. The contact plate shifted while torquing down and deformed the end of the plastic tube the spring goes through. I shaved some plastic off and got it working. I’ll look into the cancel cam after I have driven awhile to see how it works.

[mr48chev]

You already have that looking better than I thought one could.

[Second Series]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

You already have that looking better than I thought one could.

Thanks! Your eyesight must be worse than mine. I could have put more thought and time into setting up a proper jig. I simply screwed a wood disk through the wheel, eyeballed it centered. Didn’t have a router bit with bearing in from the tip, so I had to free-hand using the wood disk as a rough guide. Poor light, poor eyesight, it came out o.k. I’ve been going stir-crazy as my project stagnates during this cold season. I wouldn’t be happy paying for this quality of work, but I got it done and it works.

[mr48chev]

This showed up on the Hamb today and shows in a few photos how he modified a stock AD wheel to fit a GM tilt.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...lumns.1308802/

I didn't post all of his photos here but he does a good description. This might help a few folks.

For those who may not know, The HAMB is a Traditional Hotrod and custom board that does not allow LS swaps billet anything or way oversize rims with low profile tires. Please respect that if you think about joining it. Anything hat doesn't meet the rules is quickly deleted.

[Second Series]

The Hokey Ass Message Board is a good resource, Thanks for the link! That gives me an idea how to do the transition.
I finally finished the steering wheel. I cut a disk from a beer carton to use as a backer for body filler and formed a transition. I just noticed my transition isn’t as nice as that yellow one, but it works. I made a cam on the cancel cam, and the horn button functions.

[leegreen]

looks good!

I just added power steering, now I have the option of a smaller diameter wheel. I'm thinking about the Camaro wheel shown above or cutting down the diameter of my AD wheel. if I do I will follow your lead for the transition and turn cam