I think that this has been covered before, but, I wanted to share this with other members that have the dreaded Beck dash mounted horn button.
First thing, please don
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I think that this has been covered before, but, I wanted to share this with other members that have the dreaded Beck dash mounted horn button.
First thing, please don
First thing, please don
Continued from above
Next, remove the wire located on the end of the switch. It
Next, remove the wire located on the end of the switch. It
Larry - Just yesterday, while I was completing the repair of my bonnet latches, I decided that the horn button had to go. Your post probably saved me several days work and prevented several spikes in my blood pressure. Thanks!
Glad it helped, if you or anyone has quesitons regarding this procedure, e-mail me at LJOWDY@AOL.COM
I finally got around to completing this conversion on my 2003 Beck and found/did a couple of things differently than Larry. The differences may or may not be of interest to others:
1. Per Larry's description, I drilled the steering column at approximately 1/2 inch above the U-joint and found that there was a metal rod inside the column. Presumably, this rod is part of the U-joint. At any rate, the rod inside the column made it impossible to route the wire to the horn button so I had to drill a second hole higher up the column. To avoid this, you may want to start by drilling at about 1 1/2 - 2" above the U-joint.
2. Unlike Larry, I was able to thread the wire up the steering column from underneath the car quite easily, negating the need for the bailing wire hook to fish the wire out of the hole. You may want to try that first.
3. I threaded a rubber grommet over the wire and, with some effort, got it inserted in the hole in the steering column, further reducing the possibility of abrading the insulation on the wire. I also used a grommet where I passed the wire into the luggage area.
4. Somehow I mislaid my test light and had to improvise to find the correct terminal on the ignition switch. Here's how:
A. Remove the wire on the center/rear of the ignition switch and attach it to one side of the push button.
B. Fit a suitable length of 10g wire with appropriate connectors and attach it to the other side of the push button.
C. PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL (Failure to do so may result in the car
1. Per Larry's description, I drilled the steering column at approximately 1/2 inch above the U-joint and found that there was a metal rod inside the column. Presumably, this rod is part of the U-joint. At any rate, the rod inside the column made it impossible to route the wire to the horn button so I had to drill a second hole higher up the column. To avoid this, you may want to start by drilling at about 1 1/2 - 2" above the U-joint.
2. Unlike Larry, I was able to thread the wire up the steering column from underneath the car quite easily, negating the need for the bailing wire hook to fish the wire out of the hole. You may want to try that first.
3. I threaded a rubber grommet over the wire and, with some effort, got it inserted in the hole in the steering column, further reducing the possibility of abrading the insulation on the wire. I also used a grommet where I passed the wire into the luggage area.
4. Somehow I mislaid my test light and had to improvise to find the correct terminal on the ignition switch. Here's how:
A. Remove the wire on the center/rear of the ignition switch and attach it to one side of the push button.
B. Fit a suitable length of 10g wire with appropriate connectors and attach it to the other side of the push button.
C. PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL (Failure to do so may result in the car
One more thing...The above stated description of wiring the starter button should make it clear to everyone that almost anyone with a 12" piece of wire could "hotwire" your Spyder and be gone is less that 15 seconds. Forewarned is forearmed.
TMc
TMc
Terry and others,
Regardless of how you attempt or complete this project, anytime you have an open back to your key assembly, anyone can hot wire your car.
In the old days, thieves would re-route the license plate 12v wire to the coil, turn on the lights and push start a VW and be gone in less than 30 seconds.
Regardless of how you attempt or complete this project, anytime you have an open back to your key assembly, anyone can hot wire your car.
In the old days, thieves would re-route the license plate 12v wire to the coil, turn on the lights and push start a VW and be gone in less than 30 seconds.
It wasn't my intention to imply that modifying the ignition wiring in that manner would make hotwiring easier. Rather, I was trying to point out that, as Larry said, it's simple to hotwire because you can so easily access the back of the ignition switch.
Thanks for the tip Larry - I will have to add to my VW collection now.
Mike, just make sure that it's at least a 1971 car so you can get the dual port heads
So I take it there is a market for a heavy steel switch cover and armor-coated wiring harness?