My "new" '65 has a short somewhere in the steering column. So much so that if I have to crank the wheel (no PS) the horn will beep sometimes. This was getting embarrassing so I disconnected the horns up front. I noticed that if I touch a metal spoke of the steering wheel while pressing the horn I get a pretty good shock in my hand, only if theengine is running. (I hate shocks, so yes I am only using one hand to test this. The current in and out of one hand is enough for me, I don't need to use both hands and have the current cross my chest :-)

Anybody have experince with this? What can I take apart and expect to see the problem?

 

Disconnect the battery and remove the horn pad trace the wires down the colume. You may have to remove the wheel but I don't think you will have to go far before you find the problem. Good luck.

Oh yeah...Great looking car, I love it! welcome to the boards. cheers

 

Shouldn't have to remove the wheel.
I'll just about bet that you have a short in the wiring that goes up the column.
The horn works by grounding out the wire at the horn button assembly, thus completing the circut. You will prob find the short right at the horn button assembly. Happy hunting.
If you go to pull the horn wire out, from the bottom, tie a string or some fishing line to the top end before pulling it through. You can inspect the wire, and then pull the wire back up using the string.

 

Update...

We found a number of things that needed attention in the steering column. The plastic pad under the horn button on the wheel needed replacing and was not making contact correctly. The ground wire was not attached on the engine side of the firewall. These two things corrected the shocking and got rid of the tooting while turning.

While we were at it we noticed a major issue. The rubberbushing (I don't know what it's really called) that connects the steering column to the box shaft was torn. This explains my 5 degree play issue in the wheel when driving. We replaced that. The column was pushed down tight against the box shaft. Some people do this to get the wheel as close to the dash as possible, but it transfer a lot of vibration to the wheel and it is harder on the column bearing, which we replaced.We left a space between shafts. The column shaft was not lined up correctly with the hash marks. We corrected that. Last of all whoever did the steering wheel before me had it turned about 90 degrees, which explained why my blinker cancellation only worked one way. After all of that I am taking it in to an alignment shop to have the steering wheel look right when I am driving straight down the road.

 

Wow! You found and fixed a lot of things, well done, PG