In a message dated 8/16/00 12:50:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
NewNGsInfo@cs.com writes:
<< The stock setup for a bugeye is a brass ring that is connected to the
horn.
On that rides a spring loaded contact that is connected to ground thru the
horn button. If all is well possitioned, only ground gets to the horn lead
via a tap on the button. Fact is, the energetic "torque" of hard turns will
bend the whole mounting and short out the brass ring from the inside metal
of
the wheel that is grounded thru the shaft. Solution is to be sure the brass
ring (mounted on the bakelite shroud attached to the dash) is centered and
flat relative to the arch of the wheel. Also be sure there is no play in
the
shaft. >>
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I just fixed this ring in my '77 Midget. It's hard to believe that they used
the same horn contact ring from the Bugeye to the 1500 Midgets!
I had the same symptoms on the PA Rally a coupla weeks ago. Turned right and
the horn would blow. I removed the fuse during the rally. I pulled the
steering wheel and found that the two plastic posts that hold the brass ring
to the back of the wheel had both broken. Of course, this is one of the few
parts that isn't available anymore.
I dug around in the column shroud and found most of the little pieces from
the posts. I was only able to epoxy one post back together. I don't think
the bugeye has a shroud around the column, does it?
Then I took a 6-32 Nyloc nut, ground the other post flat with my Dremel, and
epoxied the Nyloc onto the space where the post was. Dried it for a day.
Reassembly is the reverse of removal. I was also able to clean everything a
lot better than when it is all in place.
Horn still didn't work properly! But now the horn solenoid worked. I found
that the ground had come off behind the grille. All fixed and horn is now
fine.
Pull the steering wheel and take a look. It's fairly simple.
Allen Hefner
SCCA Philly Region Rally Steward
'77 Midget
'92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport
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