Though not really difficult, replacing the turn signal switch can be time consuming. The switch assembly has the wires permanently attached, so you can't just replace one bad wire, and there's not enough room in the shaft for a splice.
Disconnect the battery. Disconnect the six turn signal wires, which exit the steering shaft under the dash, from the terminal block. Keep track of which color wire goes where.
To remove the steering wheel from the shaft, remove the horn ring assembly by taking out the recessed Phillips head screws, one on each back side (facing the dash) of the two steering wheel spokes ('55 only), or push in on the horn ring and turn it counterclockwise (56 & 57). Remove the steering wheel center nut. Use a wheel puller to remove the steering wheel. The wheel is on a tapered shaft; so just a little movement will break it loose.
The turn signal switch is under a plate that comes off as a unit. Remove the cone shaped spring that holds the top plate assembly to the switch post. Remove (unscrew) the turn signal handle and lift the top plate assembly out as a unit. The switch, wires, wrapping, and bullet ends can then be easily removed.
Don't bother to attach a "pull-back" wire to the wires that you're pulling out, it won't do you any good. Although I purchased some wire "slick um" from Home Depot that's used to lubricate wires to pull them through a conduit it really didn't do much good because there's not enough room to get all the wires with their bullet ends through that tight channel. Instead, I unwrapped the black tape from the new switch’s wire bundle almost to the switch and then fed the wires without the black wrap enough to allow the wires to go through the channel far enough to grab the bullet ends from the other end. I fed the wires one or two at a time and rewrapped the section which came out of the tube. You can now screw in your new switch to the hub in place of the old one.
doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
