550 steering

Here are a couple images.

You're missing the upper column bearing.  VW uses the bearing to provide ground to the horn button so it's a special copper ball bearing that's insulated from the column with Nylon cups and they call it a "contact ring".  Which one you need is dependent on the year of the steering column.

Does your car have a horn button somewhere else?

Usually, there is a lone wire sticking out of the steering column for your horn. Without the bearing, your horn would be on continuously.

I had a problem with my horn going off every time I hit the turn signal. I just ran another wire up the column thus omitting that whole grounding to the column thing.

If you don't already know, the horn has power wired to it all the time and the ground is what gets switched.   

Looks like a 71-74 Bug shaft with the column lock cut off.  Start there and look for an upper column bearing.  Should be a 111.953.559A  HOWEVER I can't recall if those years had the upper bearing ride on the top of the column lock and if they did then your bearing would be fully custom to have a smaller ID.

You can also use the 62-67 press in bearing (113.415.585A) with a tapered nylon spacer and spring, but that would also be dependent on what size tubing was used for your column tube and I have no idea what TR did for that...

@Carlos G I just realized i don't have the wire sticking out for the horn and there is no other horn button.  I guess i will be chasing some wires to find and fix the no horn issue.  

@Gordon Nichols Thank you.  i did see a little bit of copper on the inside of the column so i think that is where the bearing should touch to make contact for the horn.

@chines1 Thank you that was the exact part number i was looking at actually.  I just realized i need to also get a banjo steering wheel adapter.

Also, the steering coupler/rag joint is polyurethane and i heard it is better to get the german weave style so i will add that to my list.

Thank you for the help.  

@ford356outlaw posted:

Also, the steering coupler/rag joint is polyurethane and i heard it is better to get the german weave style so i will add that to my list.

ABSOLUTELY! Sooner rather than later. That poly rag joint can KILL YOU!

They should be illegal to sell them.

@DannyP posted:

ABSOLUTELY! Sooner rather than later. That poly rag joint can KILL YOU!

They should be illegal to sell them.

I regret that I can give but one LIKE to that comment.

I picked up a nice German quality one today.  
thanks guys.

Here is a mock up of the steering wheel.  I have not bolted it in yet and the old turn signal switch is still on.  But the bushing is in.  I just need to figure out the wiring because none of the colors match what's on the schematic compared to what's in the car.  Im glad i haven't bolted in the driver seat yet. lol

Still need to figure out how i will cover the roll bar holes up.

Im having same issue installing a banjo steering wheel kit on mine.  The wiring is a bit of a mystery. Anybody have a pic or wiring diagram for the column mounted items on a Beck or JPS spyder? (Turn signal, emergency flasher and wiper on/off).  

@Robbie Haas

Roll bar hole plugs - Try googling “heyco hole caps”

Heyco makes a huge line of industrial plugs and caps of all sorts.  They’re made of black PVC that accepts paint made for plastics so you could color match them to the car.  They used to offer a line of Nylon parts, too, but I don’t know if those can be painted and have the paint stick (never tried that).

The PVC parts can be gently reshaped, if needed, to match the contour of the car - Just heat them with a heat gun, quickly install in the hole and press on it to re-shape it to the car.  Wear a leather glove.  

@ford356outlaw posted:

... Also, the steering coupler/rag joint is polyurethane and i heard it is better to get the german weave style so i will add that to my list.

@DannyP posted:

ABSOLUTELY! Sooner rather than later. That poly rag joint can KILL YOU!

They should be illegal to sell them.

@JMM (Michael) posted:

I regret that I can give but one LIKE to that comment.

@ford356outlaw posted:

I picked up a nice German quality one today.  
thanks guys.

This is good, and can't be stressed enough- that red poly steering coupler IS DANGEROUS, WILL TEAR, shouldn't be sold, and NEVER INSTALLED ON A CAR!

And while the red poly transaxle mounts can't be classed as dangerous, they don't last long and will rip, forcing you to do it all again with proper stock mounts.  This is a front mount after only 2? 3? thousand miles.  The rear mounts were torn/destroyed as well, but I'd replaced those first and didn't think to hang them on the wall or take pics-

Geez…….    And I thought that my son hung weird stuff on his garage wall.

I should have put my last clutch plate on my wall, but I gave it to the local Boy Scouts for their scrap metal drive.  
Dropped it off and there was a swarm of little Boy Scouts around it with magnets - “This is steel!  It goes in the Steel Bin!”

Boy Scouts are very organized…..  

@Gordon Nichols posted:

@Robbie Haas

Roll bar hole plugs - Try googling “heyco hole caps”

Heyco makes a huge line of industrial plugs and caps of all sorts.  They’re made of black PVC that accepts paint made for plastics so you could color match them to the car.  They used to offer a line of Nylon parts, too, but I don’t know if those can be painted and have the paint stick (never tried that).

The PVC parts can be gently reshaped, if needed, to match the contour of the car - Just heat them with a heat gun, quickly install in the hole and press on it to re-shape it to the car.  Wear a leather glove.  

@ford356outlaw Needs the roll bar plugs. @Robbie Haas needs a wiring diagram for the column mounted items such as the horn, turn signals, etc.

just think of it as a “public service” announcement.

I ended up finding these on the McMaster website.  i will paint them at some point.  originally i found some plugs on amazon but i didn't like them much.

@Robbie Haas

I have this if it helps.  The writing on the top corner is how my car wiring was.  I pretty much traced the wires back from the signal, high beam, and flasher.  

I have that diagram from fibersteel also. my cars wires don’t match up so i’ll prob have to trace them as you did.   perhaps yours will match mine!  thanks much!!

@Robbie Haas No problem.  Hardest part is getting under the dash and the rest is easy.  

haha, I know what you mean.

@ford356outlaw posted:

@Robbie Haas No problem.  Hardest part is getting under the dash and the rest is easy.  

I thought getting under the dash was easy. It's the getting out part that was the hardest.

@Robert M posted:

I thought getting under the dash was easy. It's the getting out part that was the hardest.

When I was installing my pedal and horn button, I could have taken a nap down there. I took off the steering wheel and laid down on my back over the passenger seat to suss out some of the under-dash wiring.

The fibersteel diagram would be for Gen 1 and early Gen 2 Becks.  It does not apply to your turn signal switch.

There are 2 different versions of your turn signal switch, wired differently, mainly in the dimmer wires.  One version (V1) is an internal rocker switch and has headlight power in and then the rocker switch sends it out on high or low depending on which side of the switch is engaged.  In the other version (V2), your dimmer uses a latching relay and the dimmer switch is simply a ground trigger to trip the latching relay.

To complicate things more, I don't think there is anyone who can tell you the colors on the turn signal unit itself, they literally change with every batch.  In their intended application they terminate into plugs that match the car, soI guess wire color isn't important as long as the sockets are int he right order...  For us, since we cut the plug out, its a pain when colors change.

I have no idea what JPS is using for a car harness, so I can't help there.

The few things I can tell you which should apply but I cannot guarantee...

Horn is always the same (brown ground which is a trigger for the horn relay).

Headlights are usually the same, (V1) red is main power in, yellow low beam and white high beam and high beam indicator. (V2) single wire, trips latching relay, color varies...

Turn signals green is left and blue is right.

Hazards use the same turn signal wiring, just jumped together and powered from a constant source rather than a switch source like the turn signals are.

Wipers, also very inconsistent but the brown is usually ground, and brown/yellow is park.  It'll also have a 12v feed for low and high speeds, a 12v jumper for park.

Very helpful.  Thanks much!