Good news, Joel!
On the horn button bezel, I can slip my fingernails under the edge of mine and it pries right off. If you have a pair of kitchen/grilling tongs with silicone ends you could grasp the horn bezel and pull it off that way without using a hard tool and possibly marring the rig or the steering wheel.
Or try grasping the horn ring/bezel with a piece of tool chest drawer liner or something similar to give you a good grip and pry it off.
That's all I've got.
Thanks, @Gordon Nichols I'll probably have to grow my nails out, as the bezel is closely surrounded by the steering hub. But I’ll try the silicone coated grilling tongs method in the meantime.
Sadly, that damn horn button won’t budge. If anyone knows of a good replacement, I’m happy to delicately cut it off and snap a new one in once finished adjusting the steering wheel. It’s totally worth $200 not to spend hours trying to save a cheap, replaceable piece of plastic.
Griots Garage has a set of plastic trim removal tools that shouldn't mar anything. They've come in handy for me several times.
Sounds good @Lane Anderson! I’ll try it. I will say this: I suppose I’d rather have a tight horn ring that’s hard to remove than a loose one that rattles.
Harbor Freight has them as well, but a plastic putty knife is $.98 at the hardware store. A carving knife slid in sideways is probably in your wife's cutlery drawer.
Not that any of us would recommend using a classy kitchen carving knife as an automotive tool……
Unless, of course, no one else is looking. 😉
@Gordon Nichols posted:Not that any of us would recommend using a classy kitchen carving knife as an automotive tool……
Unless, of course, no one else is looking. 😉
Gordon, would the Mrs approve of this use of the dishwasher? 😆
@Gordon Nichols posted:Not that any of us would recommend using a classy kitchen carving knife as an automotive tool……
Unless, of course, no one else is looking. 😉
Do a Bert Munro, and borrow one off your neighbour
Joel -- good work on resolving the steering issue, especially given the limited facilities available to you. And (yes, I'll go ahead and say it) kudos for excellent customer support by Vintage in proactively taking corrective action, without even being asked.
Regarding getting out the horn button: The other day I replaced the battery in wife's cell phone. The battery 'kit' came with a suction cup to aid in pulling off the back case and then the battery itself. I was surprised how much suction-power I could apply in the process of pulling the glued pieces apart.
I can't say the idea will work for your horn button (the curved button face might negate the effectiveness of the concave suction cup). But it seems that if you can get a suction cup to stick, you could exert some outward pull on the button while gently 'rocking' it with plastic prying tools.
PS: My wife's phone problem has been resolved with a new phone. I wasn't the battery. But the process of giving these shaky old hands a fine dexterity test reminded me: These are really shaky old hands. 
When I was part of the Beaufort, SC Classic Car Club, several members had dishwashers in their garages. OTOH, they were all alcoholics so everyone had a beer fridge in their garage, along with a flat-screen TV for Sunday NASCAR races. One member worked at a Sears Outlet store in Beaufort and could let us know when they were installing a new dishwasher somewhere and removing the old one, especially if it was all stainless steel inside.
One of them had even set up his dishwasher with a tank of mild solvent on the water in side, that cycled out to a solvent catch tank for re-cycling. I thought it was pretty clever.
All I have in the shop from our kitchen is an old Cuisinart toaster oven I can use for smaller powder coated parts. I have used it exactly zero times in ten years.
I believe some of the steering wheel hubs have a hole on the backside so the horn button can be pushed off the hub without damage.
@Lane Anderson posted:Griots Garage has a set of plastic trim removal tools that shouldn't mar anything. They've come in handy for me several times.
Harbor freight sells a set for ~$8.95.
@JoelP posted:Ok. checked all steering and suspension parts, and all are good and tight.
here’s the cause of the “clunk” noise. https://youtu.be/dwi-lbB2r-M?si=4yDzVQBAUQBJrE21.
Ugh
Holy Mackeral Andy!
@JoelP posted:Sadly, that damn horn button won’t budge. If anyone knows of a good replacement, I’m happy to delicately cut it off and snap a new one in once finished adjusting the steering wheel. It’s totally worth $200 not to spend hours trying to save a cheap, replaceable piece of plastic.
Joel, I’ve never dealt with a wheel like that but from looking at the picture, removing the 9 allen head screws from the hub might be the answer.
Most of our hubs are Simple press fits retained by spring clips in the horn button.
For reference:
That is exactly how I removed my VMC steering wheel. 4mm Allen bit. Turning the wheel 1/9 of a turn was easy. Watch for the turn signal “off” mech.
I should have looked at the original picture. Yeah, the button is held on the those Allen screws that also hold the wheel to the hub. Easy peasy.
