Steering wheel horn connector assembly

[mikee30]

Hi all,
I am in the process of reinstalling my steering wheel (aftermarket MOMO from the 80's) and trying to resolve a slight grinding noise I hear when turning the steering wheel. The noise is between the steering wheel hub and the back plastic backing shown in the picture below. I did notice the brown conducting strip is quite dirty (looks like the previous owner tried applying grease??) which I will clean but I did also notice that at the bottom right hand side (circled in red) there is a lip in the metal conductor. Is that normal or should I be bending it back into place, flush with the rest?
Thanks!

steering contact.jpg (1.76 MiB) Viewed 480 times

[Tom]

The little lip on the copper contact is how it's made -- so that's normal. Those contacts can make a scraping noise. I've never had luck with grease, but cleaning it, sanding it smooth, and bending it as needed will typically quiet it down. But are you saying your noise is coming from the steering wheel hub scraping on the black plastic trim? Maybe remove the trim pieces to confirm that? If it's plastic on plastic scraping, I wonder if you need a spacer or something?

[mikee30]

The little lip on the copper contact is how it's made -- so that's normal. Those contacts can make a scraping noise. I've never had luck with grease, but cleaning it, sanding it smooth, and bending it as needed will typically quiet it down. But are you saying your noise is coming from the steering wheel hub scraping on the black plastic trim? Maybe remove the trim pieces to confirm that? If it's plastic on plastic scraping, I wonder if you need a spacer or something?

That was my plan - I'll give it try. I don't see any markings or scratches from the plastic on plastic so I suspect it is the contact. Now that I know the lip is normal, Ill focus on the other possibilities.
Thanks Tom!

[mikee30]

The little lip on the copper contact is how it's made -- so that's normal. Those contacts can make a scraping noise. I've never had luck with grease, but cleaning it, sanding it smooth, and bending it as needed will typically quiet it down. But are you saying your noise is coming from the steering wheel hub scraping on the black plastic trim? Maybe remove the trim pieces to confirm that? If it's plastic on plastic scraping, I wonder if you need a spacer or something?

That was my plan - I'll give it try. I don't see any markings or scratches from the plastic on plastic so I suspect it is the contact. Now that I know the lip is normal, Ill focus on the other possibilities.
Thanks Tom!

[Tom]

I'd clean it and the contact plate on the steering wheel, and then go over it with very fine emery cloth (or sandpaper) -- like 800-1200. If that doesn't do it, then you may been to bend it to put more or less pressure on the contact point. It's kind of a trial and error thing....