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Re: [Mgs] 67 BGT steering wheel play

To: "W. David Houser" <mgs4dave@tampabay.rr.com>, "MGList List" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Mgs] 67 BGT steering wheel play
From: "PaulHunt73" <paulhunt73@virginmedia.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:47:43 +0100
Delivered-to: mgs-archive@autox.team.net
Delivered-to: mgs@autox.team.net
References: <D186A01F-5E37-4A19-83C9-457EF9C1DFED@tampabay.rr.com>
Depends if your 67 is a Mk1 or a Mk2 as the column changed from solid to 
collapsible then.  On the earlier one the inner is simply a sliding fit in 
the outer, so once removed from the car probably easy enough to drift the 
bush out from the bottom.

Even though the horn arrangements changed at the same time in both cases an 
earth on the column shaft should go through the wheel boss to the body of 
the horn push, then through the horn switch when operated.

Mk1 cars then went through the centre rivet on the horn push, to a 'bullet' 
on a wire in an insulated hole down the middle of the column shaft to the 
brass cylindrical slip-ring mounted on but insulated from the column shaft 
just below the splines.  The fixed contact rests on the slip-ring as the 
wheel is turned, and is wired out to the horns.

Mk2 cars then went through an offset spring-loaded pencil resting on the 
back of a flat slip ring attached to the back of the wheel hub, and the 
fixed contact rested on that, wired out to the horns as earlier.

I'd be very surprised if earthing the outer tube of the steering column 
fixed the problem as that is bolted to the bodywork behind the dash anyway. 
The column shaft gets its earth through the UJ, rack shaft, rack outer, 
front cross-member from the chassis rails.  It's not uncommon for cars with 
the later full energy absorbing column to have a high resistance in that 
path but I've not heard of a chrome bumper car having that problem.

If linking the fixed contact below the wheel to a clean part of the column 
shaft sounds the horn then the problem is in the horn switch or between that 
and the slip ring.

If that doesn't sound the horn but linking the fixed contact to some other 
metal work (try the column outer as well as the bodywork it is bolted to) 
does, then the problem *is* a missing earth from the column inner.  If the 
column outer sounds the horn then providing another earth won't help.

Ideally you need to test wrt earth with a voltmeter on the column shaft, 
slip-ring and fixed contact as you are pressing the horn button to see which 
how the voltages rise and fall.  You could have more than one high 
resistance rather than a complete open-circuit, as I did on my RB V8.

PaulH.

----- Original Message ----- 
> Noticed that I am able to move the steering wheel up and down about 1/16" 
> in
> my 67 BGT while trying to fix my horns. 
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