The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Steering wheel

I just took the steering wheel off 6 months ago and now find I can’t get it back together. Anyone have a picture or something that will help me out.

Doug

Google this.......1954 chevy truck steering assembly diagram

Doug,

In case you didn't have any success in using Billy's suggestion above, see below for an extract pic from the 1947-54 Factory assembly Manual.

Another very worthwhile book you can get as they are reproduced and offered by lots of vendors at fairly decent prices.

Dan

What I am looking for is where the spring goes. I have the assembly manual but it doesn’t show

Doug

Spring goes on first, then wheel, then nut.

Otto. That doesn’t make sense to me. The turn signal cup is below the steering. Is that where you’re saying the spring goes?

Then the the steering wheel then the contact button, then the washer and nut. Then the cap on top.

Doug

Sorry. My truck doesn't have turn signals. When I took it apart, the wheel sat on the spring. But now you have me second guessing my recollection. I'll see if I took any pictures.

Here are the only pictures I have.

I'm pretty sure the spring is under the wheel because I haven't taken off the horn contact thing yet in the first pic and I know the spring wasn't under the nut.

Thanks Otto. I’ll put it back together that way.

Doug

Otto's recollection is good... first the spring, then the wheel. Make sure your tires are pointed straight before you register the steering wheel. Then push the wheel down against the spring and add the springy horn contact then the horn actuator, washer and nut.

Ran into another problem. The replacement horn contact is too big to fit in the hole. What I took out was what looks like the six volt spring contact.

I have a six volt on order to see if that will work. If not it seems I’ll have to reem the hole out so the new contact will fit.

Anyone one else run across this problem.

Doug

I bought mine from LMC, I think. It fit right in but was a tight fit. 6v. I think I pressed it in with Channel Lock pliers.

Doug,
I bought a similar repro horn contact spring and also found it was a tight fit, but I was able squeeze it in. As far as the steering wheel spring goes, yes with the turn signal in place drop the spring down over the steering axle, then steering wheel, then the horn button spring pressed in, then the metal horn button, then washer and nut. And yes make sure the steering wheel is pointing same directions as the front wheels.

The 6v spring contact and steering wheel for my 54 3100 are identical to my junked 12v 59 3100 panel truck. The contact button pictured is not for this application. May be for the deep dish Big Bolt steering wheel?
They sent you the wrong one.
I'll check the one on my "retired" 57 6400 if the nut will come off. It has the deep dish wheel.

Rats... the seat is full of those big quarter-sized yellow and black bees. Need to set off a bomb.

The bees are dead.
The contact button on the 12v 57 6400 is the same as my 6v 54 3100.
3/8" diam x 1-1/16 shank.

That’s what they sent me but it is too big to force into place. The 6v should be here today so tomorrow I can give it a try. If that fails I’ll probably ream the hole out so the replacement one will fit.

It had a six volt one in it when I took it apart. It was rusted so I tossed it. 😟

I wonder if they had an older model steering wheel on it. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference.

Doug

That was going to be my question. Is the wheel correct for the truck? Maybe its a car wheel or something else? Doesn't seem like GM would waste resources changing the horn contact thing by a few thousandths of an inch from one wheel to another.

As luck would have it they back ordered the 6v contact spring in my order.. not going to order a $6 part and pay $12 for shipping so have to wait until I have some other parts required.. Which is moving up quickly now that I've started on the Clutch R&R project.. just slow going making sure I don't get hurt or screw something up.. lol

I'm still considering reaming out that hole but not convinced yet I should...

Doug

ps:Otto.... not going to buy a new correct wheel with what they are charging for one.. even used ones are a $100.. so will fiddle with this one until I get it fixed.. I'm cheap.. No, thats not right.. I'm poor..

I wouldn't either. I'm just wondering why the two contacts would be different sizes by only a few thousandths of an inch.

Do you know what year your steering wheel is from?

The pic of your wheel shows a 54 3100 dash and the correct steering wheel for 54 through 59. You have the right wheel. You need the right spring contact. What are you going to do if you drill that wheel and that contact does'nt blow the horn? You just ruined your wheel. Call the vendor. Get the correct part.

I would measure the old contact to the new and find out how much bigger it actually is. If its only a few thousands bigger, you could sand the new contact down to get it to fit fairly easily. If its closer to ten thousands larger, doable but it would take you quite some time to get it to fit.

I like that idea Phak. I’m pretty patient so will work on it.
I’ll let you know how it works out. I have an idea on getting it done kinda quick.

Follow up. Hole is just big enough for the metal contact to fit so back to the drawing board.

Doug

I would use a machine screw that just fits thru and nut lightly tightened, then chuck it in a drill. You can use a file to take it down to size.

I found and ordered a 6v contact. This truck had been converted to 12v sometime in the past.
and

That makes sense that the SW would be stock but have a 6v contact. If the 6v doesn’t work I’ll drill that hole out to fit the new contacts that are used now.

Doug

Received the 6 volt horn button and it fit the hole as expected.
Problem was when I put the cup on the horn came on continuously.
You can see the difference in length in the second picture.

So the 6 volt worked but didn’t work. Now I’ll see how good I can ream the sleeve out.
Wish I had a drill press. 😟

I'm looking at this on my phone right now so the picture can't be enlarged very well but did you put that horn contact in from the top down? Cuz it looks like an awful long piece of brass sticking out as if it's the bottom of the button.. in other words it looks like it might be an upside down. But again I can't really tell from looking on my shoe phone

The pic of the new contact in the sw is just the spring inserted. Needs to be in a plastic sleeve like the upper one to insulate it from the wheel. That's why the horn blows continuously. Refer back to my pics on page 2 of this thread. Shown are 2 examples using the exact same spring contact as your new one, only with the plastic sleeve.
I'm flabbergasted that it didn't come with one.

I thought that plastic one in the picture was the new one he installed. Mine was a plastic one like the picture and fit right in.

Otto, you have a 50 model which uses the 47 to 53 wheel. He has a 54 to 59 wheel. May be different, I'm not sure. What I do know is that the 54 6v wheel uses the same contact as the 55 through 59 12v models. One of those contacts I pictured on page 2 of his thread is off of a 12v 59 Panel and the other is from a 12v 57 6400 and my 6v 54 3100 uses the same wheel as the 12v 59 Panel and has the same contact. He has a correct 6v 54 through 12v 59 3100 steering wheel in his 6v 54 3100. He has the correct spring contact minus the plastic insulator in the sw pictured, which is why his horn blew continuously. All he needs is the correct plastic insulator.

The one in my truck looks exactly like the grey plastic one in the picture above. I too don't see the point in selling that button without the plastic sleeve.

The Filling Station shows that button for 47-53. They don't show one for 54-59. The contact plate they show is also 47-53. There IS a difference between the 2 models.

Well, the 6 v works but doesn’t fit right to put in service. The 12v is too big.
I guess I will look around on the sites and try to find something that fits.

Doug

I sent you a PM. I have the piece you need to make the 6v contact work.

My 2 cents. I had to buy a new ('54) steering wheel from Chevy Duty just maybe a month ago. Before that (like 6 months ago) I bought that grey looking horn contact also from Chevy Duty. I just tried the pieces together and the horn contact just slips into a plastic grommet thing. No pressing, shaving, grinding, nothing. Just drops into place. Don't know if the contact is too long as I'm still a while from putting the interior together. But there it is. Well, maybe 1 cent.

S2