Just picked up a 68 Deluxe Wheel in rather good shape, hairline cracks here and there, but nothing major, will definitely work for now, Center cap and metal are all in great shape. Anyways the wheel I had in car was not correct and horn parts were missing so never bothered trying to hook up, installed my correct Deluxe Wheel this weekend and when I hit horn, relay in front just clicks, is there a easy way to test horn at all, or do you guys think the relay is shot? Just curious?
Thanks Harold, wasn’t sure if it had to go through relay for some reason or another, just looking around through the parts catalogs, I see there are High note and low note Horns available? Which was most common from the factory?
Here are some pics of the Wheel I picked up, anybody out there fix up the hairline cracks instead of the big $$ on a complete remold?
Deluxe package gave you the two horn setup. One lo and one hi. I think the lo was standard and the hi got added but not sure. One was on radiator support and one on the hood latch support. You horn should be marked hi or lo if you just want to replace it with what you have.
Many have filled cracks in their steering wheel. Some have used epoxy putty, panel bond. Some have opened the cracks up a little more before putting in the epoxy. Just time consuming but easy to do. I have seen articles or videos on it.
You should be able to google steering wheel repairs and come up with some articles. I did one with panel bond. It did well but after a few seasons going from hot to cold I notice some hair lines coming. back. I decided on a complete wheel remold.
Get some PC-7 epoxy fill in the cracks sand and paint just as if you are doing body work.
The horn switch at the wheel is the ground for the horn relay. When you press the horn button/buttons it grounds and the horn relay is closed, which sends juice to the horn. The horn then grounds to the body which completes the circuit.
If the horn works when you apply 12 volts to it, test the horn relay for 12 volts coming out of the relay at the connector that has the horn wire attached. If no juice out of the relay it may be toast.
Google "Alberta Firebird Homepage". Kelly, a FGF member, has documented the restoration and modification of his 1968 bird. He has done an excellent job both with the car and with his online "Journal". Very nice work on both. He redid his wheel and documents it with a load of photos and explanations. Worth looking at even if you don't have a Firebird, just to see the work that goes into one of these cars.
Hi, I have a non-working horn on my 68 deluxe. I checked the cables to the horns and within the steering wheel. I followed the cables in the engine compartment and from the steering wheel to the firewall. And, I did not find the relay. It must have been there, because I had that humming sound, when you put the key in the lock.