Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I want to straighten up the attitude of my 1950 steering wheel. I am trying to be careful with the 65 year old plastic center above the horn ring. On other cars it might do with a bit of careful prying on the center, allowing access to the big nut. But my plastic center appears to almost be under and inside of the lip of the metal horn ring. Is there a hook technique that goes inside the horn ring and then lifts up the plastic center? Once again, I am reluctant to just start prying so as not to damage the plastic center. I can see no other release screws or nuts underneath the steering wheel. The 46-50 Packard Service Manual is not of much help in accessing the large nut, but just illustrates how to take off the wheel once you're already there.

Assuming that I get there, I'd also like to access what I presume is the cam that cancels the turn signal. Mine works fine on right turns.but I have to manually cancel the turn signals after a left turn. Can those cams be serviced without taking the wheel out by removing the steering column? I really am reluctant to look like the perverbial old man Florida driver, oblivious to driving miles with a blinker light left on, confusing all who come upon me.

Horn button is removed by pressing it in with your palm and rotating it about 20 degrees ccw. How much is your steering wheel off? if only a little, then it is probably more easily centered by adjusting the tie rod ends. Any alignment shop can do that for you.

If you do take the wheel off to center it, you will find on its backside two little pins that stick out, oh 3/8 inch or so. They contact little flippers on the turn signal mechanism to cancel same. You will have to make sure all pieces are present and accounted for. If there is a large gap between the column shroud and wheel the pins can miss the flippers. You will have to loosen the steering column at the steering gear and at the bracket at the base of the dash and slide it up for a clearance of about 1/16 inch.

Good Evening...I have run into this turn signal not cancelling with our 'Miss Prudence'. It turned out that the 'big nut' had backed off a bit and we just tightened it up a bit and all was fine.

A couple of bits of wide duct tape on the plastic cap in the middle of the steering wheel to give your thumb and finger something to pull on,will help to rotate it counter clock wise.

Sometimes the plastic cap can be stuck to the anti rattle glob of what ever sort of rubber/plastic is under the cap. I replaced this stuff with a big light spring and it works fine. Easy does it. Ernie

Thanks to Ross and Ernie for the helpful advice. Once the secret of palming the center counterclockwise things came apart nicely. But the steering wheel would not bulge, even with the steering wheel puller. Hesitant to force it, even with some soaking of PB Blaster, I decided to quit before something broke or cracked. While an off kilter of 15 degrees or so is psychologically annoying, I will await seeing what an alignment might do from beneath. That is, if I can find a good aligner who thinks that they may be up for it, or is old enough not to be frightened by it. These days, even the common GM worm and sector steering boxes are becoming mysteries to those who can speak only rack and pinion. My search will commence, now that I haven't broken anything.

If your steering alignment is correct now, centering the steering wheel by tie rod adjustment will not change that when done correctly. Simply, for whatever # of turns is added at one tie rod end needs to be subtracted at the other. Just count the turns. This is the usual way of centering the steering wheel, and the only way for those cars where the steering wheel is keyed to a single position on the shaft.

Once again, with Dave/O-D's last advice, I owe you guys a lot for the trouble you're saving me. Who knew that the wheel was keyed to only one position? Going to the trouble of pulling it, while risking breaking something, was not something covered in the Service Manual.

But, as a mentor once told me, go back to basics, so I did. I checked tire inflation because the left front of the bias whitewall looked a little low. A little low look turned out to be a lot...it read only twelve pounds. Then I remembered that the previous California owner had mentioned one of the tires has a slow leak. The other three were right at 28, so I brought the offender up to that level and the steering wheel offset got much better. It's now a mere venial sin, not a mortal offense. Plus, the car steers more normally, almost approaching modern.

The Universal whitewalls that came with the car don't show any cracks or external damage and only that one seems to have a very slow leak. This car is destined to be a low speed cruiser to car events, never on a freeway, so I have no immediate plans on replacing the tires until Summer. But the frightening thing is that I don't seem to be able to find a manufacturer's date code just to see how old they might be. When did the date coding begin with DOT?

"When did the date coding begin with DOT?"

with respect, type that question into "google search"....Hope this helps.
Steve

A Google search gave no clear answer as to when date coding was implemented. Four digits began in late 1999, but earlier combinations of letters and two-digit years might have begun as early as 1973. Because I could not find any, I am wondering if they might be even older than that.

One of our car show buddies will drive his 1937 Studebaker Dictator a few dozen miles, several times a year, on tires he swears are almost as old as the car. No one seems eager to ride with him after hearing that.