OK, 67 steering wheel in excellent condition, never been off the car. How the heck do you remove it? It lacks the typical bolt holes for a steering wheel puller. I'd leave it, but the horn isn't working, which is not acceptable. Before you answer with troubleshooting advice, I've done it all, and confirmed it's the wheel.
This has been discussed on this forum before so try the search function. Had the same problem as you and installed a relay to get the horn working. Texas Swede
Hmmm, I have confirmed that one of the slip rings on the back of the wheel is dead, no longer continuous with the wire for the button. Unless you know of a way to repair this with the wheel installed? Couldn't find search info on 67 steering wheel removal.
This is a very common problem. However, it's tricky to fix. I was wrong about the discussion. It was on the SAAC Forum, see link. http://saacforum.com/index.php?topic=967.0 /Bo
Thanks! That pretty well confirms our suspicions. I was hoping to avoid whacking the shaft, especially since it's the early long shaft type.
I've removed two more since that thread on the saac forum with no problems. also fixed the horn wire by drilling a small hole and feeding another wire down the the ring and soldering it to the side. [jmo], but no need for hammer blows! Chris
Thanks, done that one before, but that wheel was already off the car. What I don't get is how a wire buried in epoxy can end up broken. Apparently, this is quite common with these wheels.
The only way would be if the wire wasn't soldered very good from the start and/or if the wire was pulled on from the top taking the horn cap on and off. Chris
No, I can't buy that. The wheel I'm on about now is on a 27,000 mile car, the wheel itself has never been removed, and the wires under the cap are clean and supple, as flexible as the day they were made. The folks I am hearing from all put the problem deep in the epoxy, where the wires were attached to the slip rings. If frequent horn button removal were the problem, you'd expect to see at least some deterioration where the wires enter the steel center disc of the wheel. These are perfect. Even a poor quality solder connection should be able to hold up if buried in epoxy. I have to think it's something about the epoxy, maybe the stuff shrinks when it gets to be 30-40 years old. Maybe it's corrosive. I dunno, but there is sure a lot of discussion of the wires losing connection with the slip rings.
It is a common problem with '67 Shelby steering wheels. I experienced this problem with only about 15,000 miles on the car. I was the original owner. Like "thefordshow", I too, made the repair of drilling small holes, (I did both slip-rings, did not want to have to do it again) and solderered wires to the slip-rings. Worked fine, and to this day, still does.
I made a flat punch for my air chisel, the size of the end of the steering shaft. With the nut off and one person sitting in the car with gentle pressure pulling evenly on the steering wheel, I give the end of the steering shaft a few blows with the air chisel and the wheel is off before you know it. Your not really pounding hard on the shaft that way, but the shock is enough to break the wheel free. Randy
Got it. 4 whacks with a dead blow and brass drift. Drilled a new wire hole 180° from the original, soldered new wire to inner ring (outer was fine) and reinstalled. Now works perfectly, for the first time in years.
