smoke on the horn ring

[DH Comet]

After reading the great 2008 discussion on removing horn rings, I thought I would have a go at the one on my '53 Manhattan.  It came apart easily enough, and I put the new donut in there where it belongs, but when I put it all back together and turned the ignition on to see whether the horn would work, smoke started coming out of the steering wheel/horn ring area, and I'm pretty sure that's not a good sign.
It's not clear from the long-ago discussion, or from the service manual: what makes the horn honk?  Is it the contact plate (the three-spoked brass thing) touching the hot wire, or the ground cup touching the steering column underneath?
The contact plate on my '53 wants to be in constant contact with the hot wire that comes up through the steering column, so it looks like the back of the ground cup should touch the steering column when the horn ring is pushed down.  It doesn't seem like that's likely, from the way it feels, though.
Anybody have any clarification?
Thanks!

[Bob L.]

Went thru horn/ring on my car a couple of years ago...saw your post and couldn't recall  hot or not  (ground).  Just took a quick look at wiring diagram (manual is closer to computer than car)....the ring, grounds the relay..>>>>makes relay honk horns. 

So, if you just had smoke and no noise... probably got something backwards.  seeing something crossed...a direct short?  My relay (54 Manhattan) is over on the left fender well.... 

What I recall about mine was there wasn't anything to "spring the ring" to normally open position...couldn't use metal as it just honked all the time...think original had a rubber material for spring... I chopped up some foam insulation (cold piping stuff/black from Lowes/ HD/etc) to use.. stuff between the ring and metal mount...so far it's worked.  Ring can get "touchy" if rubber slips around/out....

Surprised no other replies before me.....   Hope you get it sorted.

Bob L.

[DH Comet]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply;  I was surprised no one responded, too.  I got it sorted out.  The insulating substance on the ground plate was missing in spots.  I used some liquid electrician's tape and fixed it up.  I also had to replace the horn relay, but it works great now!