16 Let There Be Light

The coupe does not have power steering and it had a 13" diameter Grant steering wheel. It steered alright on the road, but it was a really difficult to turn the wheel when it was not moving. Since I have entered my eighth decade and might not be quite as strong as I was when I installed the Grant wheel, my wife decided to buy a Limeworks reproduction '39 banjo steering wheel for my 71st birthday. These wheels are 17" diameter like the originals.

The steering wheel looks great but felt a little loose on my (stock) column. I was able to shim it with electrical tape between the column and key and the wheel hub. The steering effort at rest is much better than before. It's amazing what four extra inches can do.

However, the distance between the steering wheel and the brake pedal was reduced enough so that it was difficult to get my foot on the brake pedal. I did several things to address this. First I adjusted the pedal return spring so that the brake pedal was even with the clutch pedal. Then I made brackets to move the seat down and back. The clearance between the pedal and wheel was better, but I still worried about being able to stop in an emergency situation.

Since the steering column drop is about 1" shorter in a '40 than a '39, and since a stock '40   drop is damn near as ugly as a '39, I decided to use a custom '40 style drop from SoCal Speed Shop. Since I didn't like the polished appearance, I had it powder coated gloss black to blend in with the dash. I also got a 4' piece of 1½" x .035 wall chrome-moly tubing to replace the thick wall chrome-moly tube we used when we suspended the brake pedals from the steering column years ago. The supplier was OnLineMetals. I cut the tubing to length (41⅜") and had it powder coated gloss black.

While I was making changes in the steering column area, I decided to address another safety related issue. The horn button was the old starter button and I had to think a moment to realize where it was. I wanted to put the horn button back in the center of the steering wheel.

           From Model A (1928) through 1939 V8s, Ford's "better idea" for the horn and headlight

           wiring was to have the switch body mounted at the base of the steering column. The '39

           switch wiring looks like this:

The four wires shown in bold type were routed to the American Autowire panel under the dash. The remaining three wires are for functions already included in the panel and are therefore not necessary.I bought a used stock '39 headlight switch, horn button and light switch rod, brass guide, bottom plate and light switch mount for the steering column. Hot Rod building axiom #3 - Don't ever sell or throw anything away that is in any way related to your car. If you need it in the future it's likely to be very expensive. Of course, this axiom is likely to put a strain on your marriage. It can be worked out though. My first marriage lasted 30 years, until my wife died. My second marriage is still strong after 18 years. If you treat her right, she will put up with the hot rods. The sermon is over.

In order to use the horn button in the center of the steering wheel, I needed the light switch assembly and wiring harness. These parts were purchased from Bob Drake reproductions. The switch housing was made of thinner metal than the original and the tines that hold the two pieces together are smaller than they should be. The result is that the rear piece is not secure enough to hold the rear half of the light switch in place. I had to use a hose clamp to squeeze the front half of the housing so the two pieces together and shim the switch plate contact piece with two layers of electrical tape so that it would not tilt in the housing. It is really tricky to assemble the switch correctly.

In the center of the horn button rod is a wire which is insulated from the rod itself. When it is depressed, the horn button touches the top of that wire, grounding it, There is a contact in the center of the light switch which should have a spring behind it so that it touches the lower end of the insulated wire and transfers the ground to the horn relay which blows the horn. None of the parts which I bought contained the required spring, and there was no instruction sheet mentioning the spring. So I had to unsolder the wire from the contact, determine how long the spring needed to be, buy a spring of the required diameter and length, install the spring and contact and resolder the wire to the contact. Also it is a very good idea to check the continuity of the insulated wire before reassembling the steering column. Of course, I did not do that.

Checks - button on light switch end of horn rod to horn rod - insulated
               horn rod button to ground - insulated
               rod button with horn button pressed - grounded
               horn rod button to ground with steering wheel turned lock to lock - insulated

The insulated wire is continuous. However, instead of not sounding at all. the horn sounded all the time whether the key is on or off. The lower contact is isolated from ground .

I tired of trying to make the Drake parts work. I got a hold of a genuine '38 Ford harness and used parts of it to mate with the Drake parts. This required buying a '38-'39 bail and continuing use the hose clamp to hold the housing together. When I reconnected the battery and removed the 9V temporary, the lights and the horn worked properly. I never did identify the ground.

The dash lights only operated when the old headlight switch was activated. Since the parking light contact was on whenever the taillights were, I ran a wire from there to a stock rheostat. The other side of the rheostat was connected to the dash lights. The dash lights then worked with the new stock headlight switch and could be dimmed or turned off when desired.

 

 

horn