Steering column and switch adventures

My 308 qv had intermittent turn signal ability. The left direction worked probably 75% of the time, the right side about 10% of the time. If I held the stalk just up a bit from where it wants to rest the signals worked 75% of the time, jiggling the stalk gently has some effect on operation. Something is screwy and because the stalk changes what is going on, the issues had to be behind the steering wheel.

The wheel comes off with the six socket head bolts around the steering wheel. Mine were only snug, I know others have had quite an adventure getting these out. This is also the point where I remembered that disconnecting the battery would be a good idea because the horn pump buzzed a few times when pulling the horn switch out. The qv has a big red connector under the front lid, one side of which has a big wire bolted right to the frame. I assumed this is a convenient battery disconnect and disconnected it. The GT4 didn't have this feature.

Well it turns out that connector doesn't do what I thought because everything on the car apparently continues to work, notably right now, the horn, or in my case, the horn pump and relay, mine doesn't make any horn noises, that's a separate project. Here's a thing to think about when the car bites you on the back of the calf that is against the door sill: that horn relay clearly does not have a diode across the coil. (Look up ignition system basics for details.) After getting stung about four times I disconnected the battery. It didn't hurt really, but it was really annoying – every time I bumped the horn button wire I got a little bite somewhere I was grounded. OK, so what does that big connector really do? Headlights still work, interior lights still work, etc.
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Under the steering wheel is a piece that adapts the six bolt pattern steering wheel to the round keyed steering shaft. It is held on with a ring nut. I have a hommade ring nut socket, but I think it is time to get the real thing. Between the Guzzi and the Ferrari it seems like I'm using this often enough to justify the real thing. But with the nut off the thing doesn't just slide off, this was on tight. I had to make a puller out of a metal scrap, screwing two small bolts into the steering wheel holes and screwing a bolt down the center to pull the piece up and off. With this off I had access to the switch plate under it. It comes out with two slotted screws. I fed the wire harness up from behind and pulled the assembly just to the front edge of the steering column to work on it.
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The contacts were dusty and grimy. I cleaned the contacts with a toothbrush and Caig contact cleaner. The Caig line of stuff is my favorite, I've been using them professionally for many years. I took paper lubed with contact cleaner and slid it between the stationary contacts and the slider to clean the slider as much as possible. I use paper for this because it is abrasive enough to have some scrubbing action on the metal, but not abrasive enough to damage the contacts or wear off any plating, etc. It also does a good job holding the cleaner and absorbing the contaminants.

I lubed all of the sliding contacts with a light smear of dielectric grease. This further protects the contacts from oxidation and should keep the sliding parts from wearing. I also lubed the ring contact for the horn, that's on the back side of the mechanism. I also put a drop of light oil on the pivot pins hoping that it will lubricate the bearing surface of the stalks.
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The wiper stalk's plastic base had split in half, the plastic was just sitting there. I mixed up a little epoxy and glued that back on place. The light stalk has a crack in it. I didn't do anything about this at this time. Hopefully it will either be ok (unlikely), or easily glue back together when it fails.
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I started making a steering wheel spacer many years ago when I first got both my lathe and the GT4 but I never finished it. It has been sitting on the lathe bench for a long time collecting dust and chips. Since I had all this apart I finished that up. The front side has the raised hub ring that the steering wheel rides on and the back side has a matching groove that the wheel adapter goes into. The wheel bolt pattern was just traced from the wheel, I didn't go to the trouble of using a rotary table or anything. I'm a hack home machinist, and frankly I'm more likely to get it wrong by bolting the thing to the rotary table and it will take forever. Nothing is critical here, so I traced the holes with a pencil, center punched the outlines, and headed to the drill press. I tested it, polished the outside edge and set it aside. I needed to buy longer steering wheel bolts to reach through the new adapter.

The Olander Company in Sunnyvale is a great resource for machine screws, and I now work just down the street. At lunch I popped down there and bought 30mm screws and put the adapter on right there in the parking lot. It is a subtle change, but for the better. The turn signal stalk is a little farther away than you'd expect, but not annoyingly so. And the turn signals work!
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One other little thing I did – the screws that hold the trim piece under the steering column just go into fiberglass. Mine were a combination of loose and missing when I got the car, the fiberglass holes were stripped. I took some thin aluminum sheet, drilled a hole for the trim screw and cut a strip with that hole at the end. I pre-tapped the hole with the screw. I put the screw in the stripped hole and applied my “nut” to the back side. Now the trim piece holds up tight against the dash bottom.

The first “nuts” I made were small sqaures but they were difficult to handle because they were small and I can't see where I am applying them. The rectanguar shape gave me more control and leverage, worked much better.
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One other note for anyone who ventures in here. There is a plate under the steering wheel that is part of the turn signal cancelling mechanism. This plate has two posts that stand up from it. These posts must go into the matching holes in the backside of the steering wheel adapter or else the self-cancelling mechanism won't work right. And don't get it 180* off either!
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Thankfully I didn't have to delve into ball detent land yet. And the turn signal cancelling mechanism looks like a whole bunch of small picky parts as well and I didn't have to there as well.

In thinking of the first question I had - why does disconnecting the ground not kill the car - I think I found and answer. When I was down in the steering rack area I noted some wires added to the car for the stero and alarm. I'll bet that the whole car is grounded through the stereo or through this wire added for the stereo.
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Yes, you probably could, but what is the point? Six little screws hold the wheel on and it is way easier with the wheel out of the way.