[Dave at Pelican Parts]

What year? There were a couple of different circuits used to activate the horn on a 914.

The early cars used a separate button up at the top of the column. The horn pad pushed the button, which completed the circuit grounding the horn. I think the button grounds directly to the steering column, but I'm not quite sure.

The later cars had a metal part on the back side of the horn pad which would touch the steering column when the pad was pressed, grounding the wire that attached to the metal part. That completed the circuit through the horn relay, sending power to the horn.

It sounds like there is something keeping the steering column from being a ground unless the stalk is held back.

--DD