1967 Lincoln tilt column rebuild

[UglyViking]

HA HA! I pulled that metal rim to try and find the spring, realizing that it was a flat spring and guess what, it was right under the metal plate.

Additionally, after a few different placement attempts I realized that the spring goes over both the plastic shuttle as well as the metal rim. Upon this realization I also noticed two small plastic "snaps" that locked it into place of the metal wheel. Thrilled that I figured it out I went to snap it into place and with a little bit of pressure… one of the "snaps" snapped right off. I don't quite know what I was expecting, considering it's 55 year old plastic and all, but my heart sank a bit.

I did a quick rebuild and it seems that is the correct function so here is my current plan. Get some gorilla glue and glue the metal rim to the plastic shuttle. Side not, surprisingly Krazy glue says it does not work with Polyethylene, not sure if this plastic piece is that or not but gorilla glue doesn't have the same restriction.

I'm curious if anyone has any thought about the grease used on the metal rim? I plan to basically douse both items in wd40 to give them a quick clean, then add a bit of grease back to where it is in the metal rim and slap it back together.

[frasern]

I would use di electric grease, at least on the horn contacts. Have you seen Dan's baking soda trick?
https://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/ ... =8&t=53187

[Dan Szwarc]

The plastic clip is made from nylon, aka Polyamide.

Here's some research: https://www.permabond.com/resource-cent ... -adhesive/

[UglyViking]

So I got everything cleaned, glued up, greased and reassembled. Upon reassembly I noticed that the left signal worked, but the right did not. When I again disassembled it I found that I had to move the small "ball arm" connected to the signal switch up only a small amount to get the left signal working, however I had to basically fully depress it to get the right signal working. I'm guessing that the actual turn signal switch needs it's contacts cleaned (yay).

Two questions before I start at this. 1 - Has anyone ever attempted to clean that switch? 2 - More importantly, someone please tell me I don't need to remove the whole column to get to the switch.

[frasern]

You don't need to remove the column, but you do need to stand on your head and see around corners. Also it helps if you have very tiny hands.

[LithiumCobalt]

Most of these turn signal switches are long ago worn out, especially ones that have never been changed. Contacts wear, plastic gets brittle and breaks, wires chafed/broken, etc. Can attempt cleaning, but replacement is usually the better option. Nothing lost if attempting cleaning doesn’t work, though. My two cents.

[UglyViking]

Well, cleaned it up and after a few failed attempts I got it working. I'm gonna order a new switch for when I eventually rebuild the column, but as long as it keeps working that's a later down the road problem. The wiring of this car is an absolute rats nest.

For anyone who attempts to rebuild that switch in the future (and either save the cash or because they don't wanna wait) below is a picture. The springs and connectors are straight forward, however the ball bearings threw me for a loop. When I first opened it I was sure that I lost one, however the small indent looks like it holds the ball bearings, so I thought "maybe I just dropped it onto the table and I have all three". After I put it back together and made sure the connections were solid it still didn't work. At this point I realized I made an absolutely stupid move and that the ball bearings were blocking the connections. That seems stupid obvious but at the point I thought I only had 3 bearings and I had no clue where else they would go except for seating nicely there. After realizing what the deal was I started looking for that ball bearing assuming it was surely lost to the garage, however I was blessed with finding the little guy!

Putting it back together was a bit of a challenge since the ball bearings are on one side and the connectors floating on the other. I ended up dabbing a little dielectric grease where the bearings sit just so they stay in place but can still move. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the small amount of grease won't cause issues with the connection down the road, but I figured better that then normal grease that could prevent contact.

Slapped it together and it works. Now I just need to get a bulb for the gear indicator and slap everything together. Should have her on the road for a quick putt around tonight.

[UglyViking]

Well, figured I'd update. Nick, I'm sorry that I've sort of hijacked this thread. I created a new thread so that I can post updates to my progress. Sorry for crashing the party!