jframe Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 (edited) Just a couple, really. I just added a wood wheel with a set of buickbonehead's repro horn bars, and the wood wheel install kit from CARS. Also used the big plastic ring as a repro as well, so all the horn guts are new. Problem is, it will blow on one side, but not the other. I rotated the spring on the hub, and it affected the opposite side. Now the left side won't blow, but the right works great. Is this just a matter of reclocking the flat metal spring til I hit a sweet spot? Also, the wheel doesn't snug quite as close as I would like to the tilt/turn signal housing. It seems to be engaged well on the splines, and we didn't dare tighten it much more with a big 1/2 inch ratchet and short extension. It will do, but I just wonder if that hub would close the distance a little using some other kind of tool. Other than that, wheel looks great, and buickbonehead's hornbars are second to none. Thanks also to Gene in Pennsylvania for supplying me the big plastic ring that goes on first, and CARS for the rest of the componets. Edited August 2, 2016 by jframe (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmiddy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Hi JFrame I'm afraid not to be able to help in that issue. I just have a question about buickbonehead's repro horn bars... Did you got them recently? I'm on his waiting list too, but didn't got any response since my last request few month ago. He wanted to keep me up do date. The question just to know if I have to relaunch my request about these items. Thanx! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 I had to play around with mine also. At first I thought maybe it was due to no experience with these wheels but after studying and fooling with it for a couple hours its not the best design.....at least with aftermarket parts anyway. I purchased a contact kit and made the flat plastic ring in bottom. Each time I removed and re-assembled the pieces it would work differently, but eventually I found the right combination. Yes do not tighten the nut down fully until you are sure the wheel is on for the last time otherwise you will need a puller to get it off. Due to the tapered splined fit it doesn't have to be very tight anyway. Not sue about gap at bottom on the 65. It fits OK on the 66. How much gap do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmiddy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 15 minutes ago, JZRIV said: I purchased a contact kit and made the flat plastic ring in bottom Jason, where did you got this kit? I think, I will need one too for the change from my original steering wheel to the wooden one, once I will get the horn bar and cap from Rick Rawls (buickbonehead). Thx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 I received mine last week, no issues. I believe he has had some issues with hail damage on his house though, so that may be part of the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Just now, Schmiddy said: Jason, where did you got this kit? I think, I will need one too for the change from my original steering wheel to the wooden one, once I will get the horn bar and cap from Rick Rawls (buickbonehead). Thx! Bought mine from ebay. None of the kits have the flat round piece that goes in first. jframe got his from Gene. Maybe he has more. I made a piece from a picture of an original and used 1/16" thick HDPE plastic sheet I had laying around. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1958-1960-1962-1966-Chevy-Impala-Steering-Wheel-Horn-Contact-Kit-/381107296675?fits=Model%3AImpala&hash=item58bbc3d9a3:g:NTsAAOSwVFlUCS2N&vxp=mtr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmiddy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 3 minutes ago, jframe said: I believe he has had some issues with hail damage on his house though, so that may be part of the problem. Oh god, I really hope he didn't got too much trouble because of that! I had the same troubles last year with my other car I forgot to park into the garage, that was horrible... and needed a lot of money to change all the battered parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmiddy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Jason, Thank you for the infos, I will ask Gene if he got one for me too. Otherwise, I'll try to make it like you've done it - a cool hint by the way! ;-) Thank you, I really appreciate =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 jzriv, the gap is probably 1/8 inch, maybe just a bit more. It was late, so I didn't measure any further, but we didn't want to cinch down any further. I can live with it, but I just thought it may go down further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buickbonehead Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Jframe, I responded to your email earlier but I just saw this post. If your flipping the spring around and the "No-Honk" is following the spring rotation, it sounds like the spring has a coating/residue of some type in a bad spot. I've run into this in the past but couldn't get it to honk at all. It drove me nuts. I had it spread out on the dining room table with a continuity tester trying to get it to work....yeah...it was personal. Clean the underside of the ring with sandpaper and then wipe with alcohol.The area of concern is where the spring contacts the hub...the center. I would also clean where the horn contact touches the spring as well. Hope it helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buickbonehead Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Schmiddy, I do have a few hornbars but I thought you were waiting on the horncaps to ship them all at once. I'm still working on the horncaps but I don;t have a timetable. You may want to get the hornbar now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, buickbonehead said: Jframe, I responded to your email earlier but I just saw this post. If your flipping the spring around and the "No-Honk" is following the spring rotation, it sounds like the spring has a coating/residue of some type in a bad spot. I've run into this in the past but couldn't get it to honk at all. It drove me nuts. I had it spread out on the dining room table with a continuity tester trying to get it to work....yeah...it was personal. Clean the underside of the ring with sandpaper and then wipe with alcohol.The area of concern is where the spring contacts the hub...the center. I would also clean where the horn contact touches the spring as well. Hope it helps. Also be sure the steering wheel hub itself, where the metal plate/spring makes contact, is shiny clean as the voltage goes to ground thru the hub, Tom Mooney Edited August 2, 2016 by 1965rivgs (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmiddy Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 4 hours ago, buickbonehead said: Schmiddy, I do have a few hornbars but I thought you were waiting on the horncaps to ship them all at once. I'm still working on the horncaps but I don;t have a timetable. You may want to get the hornbar now. Hi Rick Yes, right, all at once ...if possible! Sorry, as I red Jframe's post, I though the bundle where ready, my fault! (A long time passed since my request ) There is still no hurry, just don't forget me when you have the horncaps ready too! I really want these parts! Regards & looking forward for the items! Eric P.S.: I hope you're not too much in trouble with the hail damage you got on your house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 Tried everything tonight; no dice. Sometimes it would blow on the right, sometimes the left, and a couple times, not at all. I finally put it to where it would blow on the right side, put the cap on and called it done. I sanded the hub where the spring contacts, the back and front of the spring itself, and even tried aluminum foil on the hub, which was a mistake because it makes the horn blow CONSTANTLY. At least I finally got it to a point where it works on one side anyway. Wish I had a spring from a car that worked on both sides to try; I still think it's a spring/clocking issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 At first I could not get mine to blow at all. I noticed there seemed to be a little free flay in the horn bar. After careful assessment I ground down the 3 plastic stand-off nubs the screws go through to shorten them. Took off a little at a time through trial and error because if too much is removed the piece is ruined. In my case that's what was needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 That's a thought as well. I may pop the cap off and try a few other things this fall when it's not 140 degrees and 200% humidity (North Alabama). I did have to use longer machine screws to hold all this together; the ones with the CARS kit were just a hair short of being able to start all 3. I would get two going, and the third just wouldn't quite reach. I was scared to push it; all that crap is plastic. So I used ones that were 10-32 thread and 1 inch long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 (edited) It is very easy to catch the flat steel plate with a "foot" of the plastic ring which the screws are inserted thru. The feet of the plastic ring should go thru the holes in the flat steel plate and bottom against the hub and not catch the flat steel plate and draw the plate toward the hub as the screws are tightened. Tom Mooney Edited August 3, 2016 by 1965rivgs (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kaber Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 My's son's Riv came with a wood wheel and center cap but no horn bar. I added a remote horn button for $3 (super easy one wire installation). Horn works great and I think the wheel looks better with out the bar. In working on all this I realized that his column has no turn signal cancel cam, at least not the part that comes up thru the wheel. On a 63, is this part different from the readily available ones for 64 up GM products. Is there a source for these? It would be nice to have canceling turn signals! Thanks, Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buickbonehead Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 jframe, Let's try OEM horn guts. I'll send you the OEM stuff and let's see if that resolves the problem. These are LOANER parts to try to diagnose the problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 On 8/2/2016 at 0:55 PM, 1965rivgs said: Also be sure the steering wheel hub itself, where the metal plate/spring makes contact, is shiny clean as the voltage goes to ground thru the hub, Tom Mooney Tom you were absolutely right. Somebody painted the inside of the hub a turquoise color. I took a piece of 1200 I had laying around, sanded that shelf that the spring contacts when the bar is pressed, and BOOM, I had diesel horns on both sides again! Buickbonehead, I emailed you, and I will return your parts to you as soon as they arrive, if you have shipped to me already. Thanks to ALL of you guys; this forum has been such a huge help to me as a newcomer to these awesome cars. Lots of great people here, and good advice. Now, if I can only replace the turn signal cancelling pin that I forgot to swap over from my old wheel without removing the wood wheel......... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Here is a pic of the finished product. The wheel was in really nice shape, and buickbonehead's hornbars are great quality. A bulldozer won't break these. He also put me onto a really nice OEM cap that he had that fit the patina of the wheel and car. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Oh yeah! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmiddy Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Wow! Superb! Can't wait until I will get the horn bar and horn cap from Rick (alias Buickbonbehead)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 26 minutes ago, Schmiddy said: Wow! Superb! Can't wait until I will get the horn bar and horn cap from Rick (alias Buickbonbehead)! You won't be disappointed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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