Shifter and Steering Wheel

Just had a birthday, and my family bought me a new steering wheel and shifter for my bug. I installed both today.

My shifter has always been very loose. The new shifter is supposed to make the shifting pattern much tighter. It was like a miracle! When I removed the old shifter I discovered the small plate the fits under the boot was missing. When I installed the new one, it firmed up to a tight H immediately. I did read the directions and found out I needed to grease the ball at the bottom of the shifter. So, another trip too AutoZone. I now have a mini-grease gun. Way cool.

I then tackled the steering wheel. The old one was installed at an odd angle and had a very wide diameter which made it difficult for my extremely tall son to drive the car. I used the dashboard method to remove the old steering wheel. I just kept removing screws and nuts until the wheel came off. After a little reading, I also discovered you do have to pry the horn cover off before you can start unscrewing things.

The nut in the center of the steering wheel was larger than any socket I had, so another trip to AutoZone. I bought a 1 1/16 inch socket and that did the trick. Then I just followed the directions. There is a piece on the back of the old steering wheel you have to remove and reattach to the new steering wheel. This piece is related to the turn signals.

It looks great but the horn still doesn't work. When I was doing the wiring harness I was tracing wires and found two loose wires under the driver's side front fender. After checking my trusty wiring diagram I discovered they are supposed to attach to the horn. However, where the horn is supposed to be, there is nothing but an empty bracket. I see another trip to the parts store on the horizon.