Horn upgrades? Ebay Air horns? Not Dixie, La Cucaracha etc

[Matt]

My Suzuki came from the factory with a very Japanese 'Hi, sorry, just letting you know I'm here' horn which didn't really do it for me. I upgraded to a FIAMM AM 80 from a Peugeot 106, Italian made with a more firm 'ahem' feel. I like the upgrade but I would prefer something a bit (or a lot...) louder and maybe more 'Oi, you fucked up'.

 

Are the many air horns with little compressors listed on Ebay any good? What about HGV horns, any that would run on 12v without a massive compressor?

 

Failing that if anyone has any General Motors 4 notes kicking around...

 

[oman5]

The ones that come with their own small12v air pump should be plenty loud enough, you won't get a proper HGV one that isn't 24v solenoid powered unless you get an older version with a mechanical valve, for which you'll need an external air supply.

 

Back when I had my Sherpa van I had a proper old fashioned roof mounted air horn (liberated from a 70s. Foden) with a pull chain, but to work that I had a 12v compressor with storage tank installed, they need something like 100 psi to operate. VERY loud,

[Uncle Jimmy]

I'd like to have a US style railroad horn, unfortunately the police may not agree.

[Matt]

I'd like to have a US style railroad horn, unfortunately the police may not agree.

 

The Cadillac 4 notes in the video above are as close as you can get really. Plenty of people say they are train horn like. I've looked at bringing them into the country before but you're looking at over £100 once you pay shipping (horns and shipping are both around $70 each).

[Timewaster]

My old bosses CX came with F loud air horns as standard.

Quite fitting for one of the biggest cars around.

I remember Chris Goffey on old top gear saying he liked it when a cars horn suited is character shortly before giving a friendly peep peep from the chinky chento he was in at the time.

[strangeangel]

I use Chinese Stebel Nautilus copies on my bikes, and so loud are they that I'm considering fitting them to the cars too. They can be had off eBay for pennies; here's one for £12:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/136DB-Loud-Car-Motorcycle-Twin-Dual-Tone-Snail-Compact-Air-Horn-Van-Boat-Black-/221675979432

 

Genuine Stebel ones retail at £30 and are no better made than the Chinese copies - ask me how I know this.

[Ghosty]

I'd quite like something like that too, or the Ferrari air horn:

 

[wuvvum]

I've bought a couple of these in the past - they're pretty fugging loud.  The Innocenti has a single plastic trumpet from one of those cheapo twin air horn setups - with the full whack of the compressor going through one trumpet it gets people's attention.

[wuvvum]

You could make a budget version of that Cadillac horn by buying a "La Cucaracha" horn and an extra compressor and using 4 out of the 5 trumpets.

[PiperCub]

Never got round to buying a set but old Renault 25 horns have a wonderful loud gallic bellow. I'd like a set for my MX5 which has (as yours has) a rather Sgt Wilson 'Would you mind awfully?' type of horn tone. 

 

Still have a set of very strident Fiamm electric twin tones that I used in many different cars - these may be going on the Mazda now as you've just reminded me! 

[Junkman]

I want one that plays "Rule Britannia". In a Rover P4. In France.

[beko1987]

The most hilarious bit of sf16 was our massive convoy occasionally stopping for a group shot, then some beeping of horns, then right at the end triggers Dixie horn on the Cortina! Some proper lol moments, especially through some of the little sleepy villages we passed

[beko1987]

No sorry, one of the most. Matt the cat provided some damn good entertainment...

[NorfolkNWeigh]

What you need is Town and Country horns as fitted to Gentleman's Motor Cars from Crewe.

 

I've certainly never held my hand on the horn button and flicked the switch between the two to make a cacophony similar to that heard on The Persuaders or Protectors when our heroes were been chased by some Jonny Foreigner Old Bill.

[DSdriver]

The original DS in its more upmarket variants had what were known as town and country horns, a pair of normal car horns and then when pressure was increased on the lever the Maserati* air horns kicked in. I'm not sure which was for town and which was for country but I tend to use them for 'excuse me your in my way' and 'fuck off that was really stupid'

 

*not sure why we called them Maserati

[Squire_Dawson]

1950s Lucas windtone

[anonymous user]

1950s Lucas windtone

I think it was one of these fitted to my A35, it was the low note horn and most unsuited to such an inoffensive little car. It sounded like the Queen Mary coming in to harbour. The Land Rover currently has a rather feeble horn which I will change at some point for something louder

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The original DS in its more upmarket variants had what were known as town and country horns, a pair of normal car horns and then when pressure was increased on the lever the Maserati* air horns kicked in. I'm not sure which was for town and which was for country but I tend to use them for 'excuse me your in my way' and 'fuck off that was really stupid'

 

*not sure why we called them Maserati

Aftermarket airhorns sold by Harry Moss in the UK were always known as Maserati, it appears because that's who made them! Looks like the Trident logo on these ones, I don't know if it's the same company or if Citroen used them, maybe that's why they bought the Company.

[purplebargeken]

The i10 horns go 'meep' and are about as loud as a gnats fart in a small hurricane. I upgraded using a used set from a Merc thinking 'big car, bigger noise. Well wasn't my logic shit. Comes out as an ever so slightly louder 'meep' but that still doesn't actually alert anyone to anything, it just adds to a growing sense of embarrassment.

 

I am of the belief that I could actually shout more loudly than any noise made by the 'horns'. I long for a set of train horns.

[Squire_Dawson]

It's true those Windtone horns come in 'soft' and 'loud' tones, on better cars they had both horns. A nice detail on some 1930s-40s cars is a horn button giving you a choice of which to use, say if you just want to warn pedestrians you could press 'soft', for a more authoritative blast there was 'loud'.

[Bobthebeard]

Several years ago I had a Citroen DS Safari that had two stage horns. Not sure if that was standard though. Pull the lever gently, and 'parp'. Pull the lever harder and 'PAAARP'. Proper loud! Worthy of a truck.

[Matt]

I use Chinese Stebel Nautilus copies on my bikes, and so loud are they that I'm considering fitting them to the cars too. They can be had off eBay for pennies; here's one for £12:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/136DB-Loud-Car-Motorcycle-Twin-Dual-Tone-Snail-Compact-Air-Horn-Van-Boat-Black-/221675979432

 

Genuine Stebel ones retail at £30 and are no better made than the Chinese copies - ask me how I know this.

 

Almost as loud (so the advert says) as the massive air horn wuvvum posted below but much smaller, nice!

 

or the Ferrari air horn:

 

I'm sure I read somewhere that the classic Ferrari notes were made by either Hella or FIAMM solely for Ferrari so if you want the genuine sound you'll need to buy genuine Ferrari parts. Can't be cheap.

 

I've bought a couple of these in the past - they're pretty fugging loud.  The Innocenti has a single plastic trumpet from one of those cheapo twin air horn setups - with the full whack of the compressor going through one trumpet it gets people's attention.

 

I'll keep those in mind thanks, founding space to fit one would be a hassle in my car though.

 

You could make a budget version of that Cadillac horn by buying a "La Cucaracha" horn and an extra compressor and using 4 out of the 5 trumpets.

 

Possibly but I don't think it would have the same clout. The Caddy horns are apparently very loud and command attention.

 

1950s Lucas windtone

 

Great tone but sadly almost as expensive as the Cadillac horns.

[Matt]

1950s Lucas windtone

 

Does anyone have a working one or pair of these? I bought a high and a low on eBay but one is needing work. I'd like some photos of a known good one just to make sure I'm putting it together correctly. Turns out a working pair are £90 odd but I got two (one not working) for less than £25 so if I can get the other one working it'll have been good value or easy profit if I can't find a mounting solution. 

[Squire_Dawson]

Autojumble £10 max.

[Squire_Dawson]

These horns are very reliable. The only adjustment you should need to make (or indeed can make) is to the contacts; these are easily adjustable with the appropriate spanner and screwdriver. Have a 12-14v d.c. supply handy to test, I can put photos up if you want.

[Matt]

These horns are very reliable. The only adjustment you should need to make (or indeed can make) is to the contacts; these are easily adjustable with the appropriate spanner and screwdriver. Have a 12-14v d.c. supply handy to test, I can put photos up if you want.

 

There certainly isn't much to them. Do you know how they should be adjusted? Or rather how to know when they are in correct adjustment?

[Squire_Dawson]

I'll upload photos tomorrow evening and point it out Matt, basically you move the adjustable contact little by little until you get a loud, clean sound. There will be some slight arcing at the contacts due to the current drawn.

[Matt]

I'll upload photos tomorrow evening and point it out Matt, basically you move the adjustable contact little by little until you get a loud, clean sound. There will be some slight arcing at the contacts due to the current drawn.

 

If it's badly out of adjustment should I expect no sound at all? That's the status on one of mine. The tension on the flexible arm is very tight, is it supposed to be fairly loose? Also it seems that the copper windings in the centre are very black so perhaps that is just burnt out?

[Squire_Dawson]

 

If it's badly out of adjustment should I expect no sound at all?

Yes that's correct. It's highly unlikely the horn has burnt out as they are fused and remarkably well engineered, it will be easier for me to explain with a photo so will put some up as soon as I can tomorrow.

[twosmoke300]

 

I couldn't resist creeping up behind people if I had that !