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Spring is compressed under the horn ring.

So, the two bolts holding the plate in place and the spring just sits on the plate? There is nothing holding the spring in place?

Been years since I had a V8 wheel apart and I don't have any decent photos so the memory could be very well kaput. If I mislead, my apologies in advance and hopefully someone else will get it correct and maybe post some detail photos of the ring assy and how it goes together..

I believe that plate is held on by the nut holding the wheel to the shaft. The two threaded holes are only used for the puller. The spring is sandwiched between that plate and another fixed to the horn ring and provides the electrical ground connection from the shaft etc as well as providing the force to keep the horn ring separated from the contact which passes the ground electrical connection to the relay when the ring is pushed.. The horn ring assy itself is held to the wheel by 3 screws that come in from the bottom of the 3 large holes.

Here is a side view illustration and I believe the plate in question is the one where the arrow points.

I'm assuming the 55-56 wheels are the same basic design as the 51-54 wheels. I've never seen the 55-56 so I'm not sure. As Howard said the plate on the steering wheel is held in by the large nut. The spring sits within that, then is sandwiched between it and the horn ring. The horn ring has three screws that hold it to the steering wheel and keep the spring in place.

This part of my interior disassembly video shows it (but it's quick)

Quote:
Wish it were that simple as I have decent illustrations and a good electrical path drawing of the 42-54 wheels and horn ring.

The 55-6 wheel and horn contact is quite different both in construction and in the electrical path because the wire thru the steering shaft is not present. That wire and connection is made in the turn signal switch area below the wheel but it has been so many years I honestly do not remember where or exactly what moves when pushing the ring to make the contact pieces come together and make a connection to send ground to the relay.

Someone on the forum posted this photo showing the insulated contact ring and horn wire connection below the 55-6 wheel. It is the only one I have been able to collect showing any major electrical piece of the horn arrangement. There is a large contact plate on the wheel side below the hub that appears to be connected via screws to the grounded (via the spring shown in the question that started this subject) movable part of the horn ring. I suspect when the ring is pushed the plate moves downward and makes contact with the insulated ring but do not have any detailed photos of the layout and parts of the assy in the wheel side to be sure.

Attach file:

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  55-6 horn contact ring.jpg (612.47 KB)

Thanks for the info Howard. That is a much different arrangement than 42-54. I learned something new today.

Maybe HPH can pull the wheel off the 55-56 he's working on and snap some pictures of how it all fits together?

I got the wheel and the horn all reinstalled. Thanks for all the info.

Hooked a little test light up to the horn led and tested the button at the steering wheel.
The button is working (the light came on).

I ran led off the battery to the horn and got nothing but a little click.
So I guess I spend the afternoon dissembling the horns.

I already have it off my Clipper. But didn't take photos I don't think. Won't be working on it again for like 2 weeks, so didn't say anything.

Well that did not take long.
I have never open up a horn before.
There really isn't much to dissemble and troubleshoot.
All I did was take a cover off.

Are there ways to determine if the horn is salvageable or not?

Just FYI, I do not have the original Packard harness. My harness has a dedicated horn wire that comes off of a relay on the fuse box.
So, I don't think I need the original relay on the radiator support. That horn wire is what I tested earlier and its good.

Once I get the horns working I can finally start putting the grill other shiny parts on the front.

In the electrical section of SM starting on page 49 there is a bit on the horn. There is a set of contacts or point assy inside the horn that could be dirty. There must be a good solid connection thru the points before the horn diaphragm can start moving so you might try using a point file on them. If a tone adjustment screw is screwed down too tight or rust has been established in a small clearance space where the coil is located under the diaphragm area or some insect nest has been built inside the sound chamber that restricts the diaphragm movement, all will prevent the horn from blowing. Diaphragm is a bit stiff but you might try pressing gently on the diaphragm under where the adjustment screw is located to make sure it moves.

Cannot answer your question about the wire in the new harness but it will probably follow roughly the Packard horn wire diagram also on page 49. If it does it should be OK. Horns take a lot of current for the diaphragm to make the initial movement so make sure you are testing with a good size jumper wire and charged battery.