I thought this tech might help someone. Firstly some theory, car and truck housings are different in a few ways. Car housings are perfectly round where they meet the steering wheel. Truck housings are somewhat egg shaped. Car housings have a smaller rounder side hole. Truck side holes are larger and more oval. On a car signaling mechanism the part that pokes out of the side hole is smaller. Truck signaling mechanism is larger and protrudes more. A car mechanism will fit in a truck housing but a truck mechanism will not fit in a car housing. Car housing 544125, signaling mechanism 5944865 Truck housing 544126, signaling mechanism 5948512 This thread is an after thought so you wont see how I did my cleanup but it will give you a good idea how it should look in different stages of dis-assemble. As you can see in the first and second pictures the truck housing is not completely round. As you can see in the third picture the truck side hole is larger and the mechanism protrudes a lot more.
I removed the housing from my steering column. I needed to first remove my horn button, un-bolt my steering wheel, use a puller to remove my steering wheel, unscrew the wedge holding the signal switch housing and lastly disconnect the turn signal cables from my main harness. A little tip here if you plan on putting a turn signal back in you need to make sure you have a way to re-run the wires. BEFORE I pulled my turn signal harness I hooked a long piece of chicken wire to the connector ends and pulled the wires out. The chicken wire serves double duty because if the wires get snagged on the way out you can use the chicken wire to pull them back down. Leave the chicken wire in the column for reassembly. As you can see in the first picture there is the screw underneath for the wedge. In the second picture this what your signal should look like when it is assembled. To start dis-assembly unscrew the turn signal switch, unscrew the large screw that sits behind the turn signal switch handle. After that you need to push into the center on each side of the mechanism so that you can free it from the housing.
Once you free the mechanism from the housing you will find a small crush washer underneath. I found it a lot easier to completely disassemble for cleaning. You can almost twist the small springs out from their posts and catches. Careful when you removed them so as not to bend them. The top larger spring has ends that are pitched downward when you take it apart (just so you know for re-assembly). You can see all this in the first picture. Next I moved on to the housing. The switch and harness are held in with two small screws and a little bracket that is part of the housing. This particular one is not screwed in but for the benefit of this thread you get the idea. You can see this in the second picture. In the third picture; once I removed that harness I was left with another metal spring that sits in two little grooves. This sits between the turn signal mechanism and the steering column (note for reassembly). In the very bottom you'll see the wedge I referred in the first post. Everything but the housing got a nice long de-greasing soak in a carb dip can. For the housing I used paint safe engine de-greaser foam. Everything was followed up with a soap and water bath, a spot in front of a space heater to dry, then a nice petroleum jelly smear (only on non painted/exposed metal surfaces). I also cleaned my slightly rusted chrome turn signal switch handle with some brillo. It came out nice a shiny without any scratches. When I put it all back together I put my signal switch harness in first. I then put the wedge back in, then the metal spring behind it. I reassembled the turn signal mechanism, put the crush washer in and then put the mechanism back into the housing. You need to push the top springs into the center so as to clear the rivets to get them into the housing. Just before re-installation I hooked my chicken wire up to the connector ends of my new turn signal harness and fished them down the column. I fitted the turn signal housing around the column. When I was happy with the location I tightened the wedge and re-connected the connector ends to the main harness. I slopped some axel grease on the top of the steering column, re-fitted my steering wheel, bolted it on and re-attached my horn button.
My housing was extremely loose around the column. When I would hit my turn signal switch the housing would go all the way up to 12:00 or down to 6:00 depending on which way I was turning. There is a channel in the housing that lines up with a little roll of metal on the steering column. One or both can get worn out over the course of 50 years. It doesn't help that the block that holds the housing to the steering column is a little too slim to actually work. I fashioned my own c-channel out of some steel I had laying around. The c-channel is wider on top and gets thinner at the bottom. As a result it has to be made. I made the legs of the c-channel so that they stand the housing off the column a bit. This helps make up the space so you have a tighter fit. I pressed in my channel and now the housing is nice and steady. It now only goes up to 9:15 and down to 8:45.
I have a 1954 Chevy with a truck housing #544126 and a car mechanism #5944865. I tried to get them to work but no luck. When I pull down or up on the handle the mechanism hit the inside of the housing. It's not even close. Which one should I replace? My housing is painted and I don't want to get someone to try to match the paint. If I buy a truck mechanism and use my housing will it work and is there anything else I need to buy. For your information the horn also does not work so I am sure I need to buy parts for that also. Please give me your comments. yellow graffiti coupe
Easy answer is to replace the mechanism since your housing is painted. Going without pictures makes troubleshooting harder. Are you working on a car or truck? Non working horn has nothing to do with signal housing whole different group of parts.
Bringing an oldie back from the dead. The car mechanism (top of photo) has a longer collar where it bolts into the housing and a longer bolt. The truck mechanism (bottom of photo) has a shorter collar and a shorter bolt as a result. They both interchange into either housing. The top of the collar is where the extra meat is so it does not affect the height of the signal handle. The bolt will not interchange. From what I read, these were used in: Chevy Cars in 53 and 54. In 1955 Chevy introduced a new column design and a new turn signal housing. Chevy Trucks in 54 to 56 (Though I am using one on my 59) Vettes used these from 53 to 62. As for part numbers the I will add one more. I found another mechanism that resembles the truck mechanism from the photo. Mechanism 5942923 has the shorter protrusion where it bolts to the housing and has the shorter bolt. I can’t say for certain the application but they all interchange between housings provided you use the correct bolt
the truck assembly changed in 57 when they went to the deep dish steering wheel. The lever comes in at an angle, so the piece it screws into is different, and the hole in the housing is larger also. I'll see if I can get some pics...I just got a bunch of old switches out to play with, to see if I can get one working on the 55 bread truck.
Good question, those two are the only ones I have see with the cloth cover. The guy I bought them from said they came from 53 and 54 cars.
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