First of all, I would like to introduce myself -- My name is Rob. I am a 914 addict. Secondly, I would like to thank everyone for the wealth of knowledge they bring to this site. I have been on this site for about a year now, but this is my first post. I have been working on my 1970 914 for about 4 years and I am nearly finished. You guys have saved me from many roadblocks.

Now for my question: I am trying to get my horn to work. On the back of the steering wheel there is a plastic shroud and on the back of that there is a circular copper(?) ring with a wire connected to that ring that runs to the front of the steering wheel. Where the steering wheel shroud meets the steering column there is a 1-2 mm gap between the two. If I bridge that gap with a screwdriver or wire the horn works normally. You can see that gap in the photos I am going to try to post.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

I have read somewhere that there is a contact finger. If there is, I can't see where it connects to the steering wheel shroud. Or, is the steering wheel shroud supposed to be flush with the steering column contact? BTW-Car is a 1970 with a 1974 1.8 motor. Who knows what the PO combined on this car.

Thanks,

Rob

Hey Rob...

I cleaned up the post a tad and got the pictures in order.

Where's your turn signal switch in relationship to this pic?

Looks like your parts are mismatched and from different years ...

On the early cars (69 - mid 72) there is a spring loaded cylindrical button that goes between the contact ring in the column and the horn pad .. usually lost.

Below is a link to the image from Pelican Parts:

Early horn contact

On later cars they used a wire that connected to the horn pad.

Like Ahandie said, the components must be matched.

Thanks Eric for cleaning up the post. It did look weird.
To answer your question - the first pic is taken looking from passenger to drivers side, level with the dash.
Sir Andy said that I may have mismatched parts.
Picture 2 is what I am calling the steering wheel shroud. I know that is not the proper name. Is what I am calling the shroud -- is that the mismatched part? Or is it the whole steering wheel that I need to look for?
Just trying to get the horn going, as it is a very small car.
Thanks,
Rob

Looks to me like the guts in the column sticks out too far and you have the wrong year steering wheel.