My 1939 Ford Standard Coupe - The Restoration
At this point I had removed the retainer and spring holding the horn/headlight switch and rod assembly. I carefully slid the rod up and out of the steering column.
The next move was to pull the steering wheel. I didn't have a special Ford or KR Wilson type steering wheel puller. So, I did the next best thing....I drilled three holes in the steel hub which would get tapped, using a 5/16" - 18 tap. The steel hub isn't that thick and is backed up with the old plastic of the steering wheel itself. So, I only drilled in about 3/8" or so.....enough to let the bolt pass through the steel, but not too deep that I might drill right on through the plastic.
In this picture I had already loosened and removed the large hex nut that retains the steering wheel.
You can see some nasty cracks in that old plastic, but fortunately, the wheel is not bent and there are no large chunks of the plastic missing.
On a '39 Ford the wheel has a smooth tapered hub that fits onto a matching taper on the shaft. It's further locked in place with a keyway.
I'll take 'em when I can get 'em! There are still loads of hard, difficult jobs ahead of me.