Custom Cruise Control Location?

Topic: Custom Cruise Control Location? (Read 1706 times) previous topic - next topic

Custom Cruise Control Location?

September 25, 2005, 10:24:40 AM

Hey everyone,
I just scored a very cool steering wheel on Ebay. The description said it came from an '84 Cougar, however I think it came from a Mercury Capri. It's black, leather-wrapped, and has 3 spokes; basically one at 3 o'clock, one at 6 o'clock, and one at 9 o'clock. It's got the Cougar-head cap in the center for the horn, but that also could have been from a Capri, I think. I guess I'm wondering if it actually came from a Cougar or not, but that's not the main question. It does not have cruise control buttons. I've mentioned this thought before about putting cruise buttons elsewhere in the car if they were not in the wheel. I know there were some Fox cars with turn-signal stalk cruise controls, but I don't like that approach (too similar to you-know-who). I've got a wheel I can sacrifice that has cruise buttons in it. How hard would it be to find the cruise wiring at the base of the steering column and splice it somewhere else? And, where does anybody think the buttons would look the coolest? I thought about the lowest panel in the center, where on my '83 I have the lighter, the power antenna switch, and the Premium Sound switch. I'll have to somehow be able to cut just the right size and shape hole(s) to set the button assemblies in. In my mind I think this will be a very cool mod, but in actuality it may be a PITA. Any pointers? If somebody could actually tell me the exact wiring I'm looking for in the steering column connection, that would be great, too. Thanks for any help.

Fordman3

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #1 – September 25, 2005, 10:57:35 AM

Been there, done that:

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=4622

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #2 – September 25, 2005, 01:39:13 PM

Chicken,
I guess we think alike. How hard were they to wire up? Also, my '83 has a different dash, of course, and the similar location in my car does not have a flat contour, it's got a curve to it. Wouldn't I need to mount them in a flat area to look semi-correct?

Oh, any ideas on the wheel itself? Did that wheel ever come in a Cougar? Just curious.

Fordman3

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #3 – September 25, 2005, 02:27:01 PM

Without seeing the wheel I couldn't say what iit came from - Eric would be more of an expert in that area.

Wiring the switches was simple - there are three wires going to the slip ring in the column. The '88 EVTM says the wires are black, blue/black stripe and yellow/green stripe. The EVTM was wrong. In my car the black and blue/black wires were there, but the yellow/green was actually purple with red stripe. No matter, as it was easy enough to figure out.

When I first wired it I ended up with a problem. Instead of cutting the wires going to the slip ring I simply spliced into them, so as to leave the wiring intact in case I ever reinstall a stock wheel. Normally this would not present a problem, but since I installed an aftermarket horn with aftermarket slip rings the blue/black and purple/red wires were now shorted together. The result: Whenever I hit the "cruise on" button the horn would ring. The cure: I opened up the column and cut the blue/black wire where it goes up to the slip ring (leaving the splice that goes to the relocated switches intact). It had to be the blue/black wire - cutting the other one would result in a non-functioning horn.

The panel that I mounted the switches to has a slight curve - I'm not sure if it's as curved as the 83-4 dash or not. The panel doesn't have to be 100% flat, but as close to flat as possible for best results. You've also got to be sure there's enough room behind whatever you mount them to to house the switch bodies - they are surprisingly deep.

Here's how I wired it:

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #4 – September 25, 2005, 09:51:46 PM

Chicken,
As always, great information. Thanks. My '83 (and I guess all '83's?) has the horn on the end of the blinker stalk, so there's no horn connection in the wheel itself. Does that change any of the procedures you gave me? Will I have to worry about the shorted horn/cruise wire like you did in your car? Again, thanks for the details you provided. I'm actually looking forward to trying this mod, and this wheel is really tough-looking. I'm surprised I had no competition from any other Ebayers. If you have time, do a search on '85 or '86 Mercury Capri on Ebay, and see if there's not a wheel like I described.

Fordman3

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #5 – September 25, 2005, 10:21:03 PM

You should still have the same three wires - the horn uses the purple/red (or yellow/green) which is a power feed and the black (ground), while the cruise uses the aforementioned plus the blue/black (signal return to the cruise module).

The only reason I had the shorted horn/cruise was because I installed a Grant GT wheel with a Grant adapter. The stock Ford steering wheel had three slip rings while the Grant adapter only had two - one was double wide, so it shorted the two circuits together. With a stock Ford wheel you should not have this problem.

Do you have a link to the auction you bought the wheel from? That'd be the best way to show the wheel

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #6 – September 26, 2005, 10:47:19 PM

Carmen,
I'm not positive I know how to attach links, but I'll give it a try. Here goes:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8001051325

Don't know if that will come through as a link or not, but definitely feel free to check it out. Thanks again for the pointers.

Fordman3

Re: Custom Cruise Control Location?

Reply #7 – September 27, 2005, 08:37:03 AM

Yeah, I think that's a Capri wheel. Nice find - I've seen those wheels go for a lot more than that!!!