The Triumph turn signal switch was a big step forward, but the result had two problems: (1) the horn connection worked only intermittently; and (2) the turn signal stalk jammed periodically. The new switch was fine, but my installation was not.
Sunbeams and most older cars use a disk and spring connector to connect the horn button on the steering wheel to the horn: a 
flat disk made of electrically conductive metal is wired to the horn button and then mounted on the back of the steering wheel (red arrow). A metal spring (green arrow) is attached to the steering column and wired to the horn. The metal disk can move with the steering wheel, and as long as it remains in contact with the spring, the horn button and horn are connected electrically. Push on the button and the horn will beep.
In my first attempt to bridge the horn button to horn connection, I used the original Sunbeam strip spring (green arrow above and to the right). I needed to modify it because it had been attached to the turn signal switch, which was replaced with the Triumph one. I glued the copper to a piece of plastic and bent it to make contact with the horn button disk (red arrow). This approach worked to a point, but because the copper strip was very stiff, I couldn’t bend it to make a reliable connection.
I needed another type of spring that was not as stiff as the copper strip. Why not try a ball point pen? They are easy to compress but, I am hopeful, will be able to maintain enough pressure for a good electrical contact. In the picture to the right, the green arrow shows the metal contact with the horn wire soldered to it (green arrow). The contact is mounted in a plastic pen barrel to insulate it from the car body. The spring is in the end of the pen (to the right) and keeps pressure on the metal contact. For the metal contact, I used a piece of scrap brake line, which was on my work table. I thought that the rounded tip would ride smoothly against the disk. The pen body is glued to a strip of metal using super glue and dental floss. The glue soaks into the floss and forms a very hard structure. The whole assembly is then held in place by a a radiator hose clamp. I am hopeful that my new spring connector will be reliable. Time will tell.
For the second problem, I noticed that the turn signal stalk would jam when I tried to engage the turn signal with the steering wheel slightly turned. As background, in the previous turn signal post I tried to explain how the turn signal cancel mechanism works: when the turn signal stalk is pushed up for a right turn, the cam on the switch (blue arrow below) moves in. The cam (green arrow) that is attached to the steering wheel slides past the rounded edge of the pawl as the car turns to the right, but catches on the flat side of the pawl as the turn is completed and the steering wheel comes back to the center. The pawl is pushed down and the turn signal is canceled.
By watching the pawls and cam move, I noticed that the point of of the pawls could catch on the cam (green arrow) and jam the switch. As a first fix, I narrowed the cam (red arrow) so it would be less likely to interfere with the pawls when the switch is engaged. Will this help? We will see.
Sunbeam 