Still learning the ropes here. Posted this on another thread probably not the right place. Need a little help, I just inherited a 67 Skylark convertible from my father. Picture attached. Not quite sure how he got it, but it was last registered in 1982 in NC. So it's a true barn find. He had it about a year before he passed. It's in beautiful condition. Originally it was white and received a color change at some point to a dark green. He went through it and did a minor refresh to make it safe to drive. I've only found a very few things that still need to be done. One of them is the horn does not work from the button. I've proven that it's the button by shorting the power to ground in the column. So everything works from there down. Attached is a picture of the backside of the button. It looks like the brass ferrule has been resoldered but it doesn't quite look right. Is there a part missing? It doesn't make contact with the power input. Thanks for any help/suggestions.
Thanks for the link to service manual. It has some good info in it. I appreciate the help. I've taken some additional pictures hopefully it will be clearer. The first pic is just to show the front of the horn pad in the steering wheel. The second pic is of the backside of that horn pad. You asked where the black wire goes. It goes to a second actuator bar at the base. I've circled both pads in yellow. Also, on the second pic circled in Red is the contact that is hot lead, and it is inserted in the column where the red circle is on the third pic. The fourth pic is an extract from the manual you provided. My wheel doesn't seem to quite match the description, but the functionality should be the same. When I run a wire from the column feed to the nut holding the wheel on (ground) the horn works so the rest of the system is fine. I seem to be missing something to connect the contact plate highlighted in yellow in the second pic to the ground, steel nut in the 3rd pic. Highlighted in green the text describes a ground plate on the steel hub. Is that a missing piece? Thanks again for your suggestions is of an extract from the manual. I've highlighted a few sections to help explain my situation.
The brass button should sit flush on the edge of the nylon tube. There is a longish spring that connects the brass button down through the steering wheel (You have this circled in red). As you have no doubt figured out the black plastic portion of the button becomes the switch. It rocks enough to close the horn circuit. It's easy to test that bit. The nylon tube with the brass button is fed down into that hole you have circled in red with the spring in it. I think the four screws that hold the horn button on and pass through the back of the steering wheel also act as a connection for the ground.
Thanks, I thought the same thing about the screws but sadly that's not the case. The black wire is the hot side where the power is applied to the switch. That switch is mounted solidly with no insulation to the chrome frame which is where the screws go to mount the unit to the steering wheel. If the screws were to ground the connection the horn would blow constantly. The switch is closed by pressing on the black bar. That pushes the back of the switch to make contact with the power. What I haven't figured out is how to connect the backside of the switch to ground.
Yes, as nailhead in a '67 said the steering wheel horn circuit is a switched ground. The black wires are insulated from the grounded frame (grounded by the screws) by the nylon spacers and the lack of contact of the springy bits below it. when you push the black plastic button the black wire connects to ground completing the circuit. If your black wire is grounded all the time, your button is not working right. Test for continuity between the brass and the frame without pressing on the button,
Mystery solved. As Max Damage stated the ground is through the screws. The issue I had was caused by an attempted repair of the steering wheel. Apparently when my father got the car the wheel had cracked in several places. He repaired the cracks and painted the wheel. Unfortunately, he also painted over any bare metal that would have allowed the connection to ground. I sanded off that paint and now the horn works. Thanks everyone for offering suggestions that helped me push through this minor problem.
