horn don\'t work

[Deleted User]

The horn on my '53 has never worked since I got the car. If I short the negative post at the battery to the screw terminal on the horn, the horn blows, so I know its ok. The other two posts on the relay that are not directly connected to the horn seem to have power at all times when checked with a test light. I have popped the steering wheel cap off and looked inside, and have not checked in there yet for power, but suspect that the horn ring merely grounds the circuit, and does not really have any power there.
Is this correct? Also -- are the other two posts on the horn relay supposed to stay hot all the time? (key off, everything else off).
I haven't pulled anything apart yet inside the steering wheel, but am wondering if there is a wire for the horn running right up the center of the column. Is this correct, or does the horn ring just ground a couple components and complete a circuit somehow like that?

Unknown

Yes , there is a wire coming up the column, terminating in a spring loaded brass button that contacts a copper disc or strip when horn ring is depressed. The wire that comes out the end of steering box goes to the horn relay, providing the ground to close the relay contacts and send power to the horns themselves.

[Deleted User]

Well Ken, I dug around under the steering wheel cap, and discovered that if I simply tightened the three screws holding the horn ring and other components in there about a half turn each, --- I got horns that'll blow your socks off compared to the feeble bleats we get out of the modern stuff! :-)
Thanks for the help -- it put me in there knowing what to look for!

silverone