horns. repair or replace?

[johnnycharger]

I dont know if the horns in my charger are original or not. They don't work. I have removed them and install 12v to the tab and grounded out the mount and I get nothing. Are these junk? Should I try to repair them or just chuck em?

[bill440rt]

There is a procedure to repair them. To be perfectly honest I've only had a 50/50 success rate in making them work again. There might be another thread on here outlining the procedure, there was definitely one on Moparts.
Basically, the two halves are swedged together which need to be drilled out to separate them. Inside there are a set of contacts that when current is passed thru them vibrate making the horn sound. You need to clean the contacts with sandpaper, file etc.
Then the drilled holes need to be tapped for screws so you can screw the horn halves back together. If you are concerned with an original look you can grind the screw heads down to resemble the swedges your previously drilled out.
Cross your fingers it works again.
Paint it black.

Or, scour the swaps/classifieds/eBay for a known working set.

[johnnycharger]

Hi Bill
thanks for all the info! My car is far from a show car but I think for budget reasons I will give it a shot and if it doesn't work I will start the hunt...

[johnnycharger]

What does this screw do?

[bill440rt]

Fairly certain that one adjusts the tone? 

[Ghoste]

Yes.

[johnnycharger]

First attempt. ....it makes noise but it isnt right.... 
I guess I will give it another shot

[twodko]

John,

WD40 is always your friend. Couldn't hurt to give the innards a shower.

[johnnycharger]

Thanks Tom! There is some rust....

[myk]

Strange, that the horns aren't being reproduced yet...

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Just going through this with my Charger.  I have the origial Prestolite ones like you pictured.   My HI note is out.  I had another HI note as a spare but that one is toast also.

Took apart one of them and found the contacts to be OK but the horn plate itself rusty.  The contacts themselves are always in contact.  I think this is incorrect as there should be some gap between them?


I also had a spare Spartan Hi note....looks a little different bracket wise.   Used that one temporarily & put it on the bottom to hide it a bit....A working HI note Prestolite will be on my list for a Carlisle purchase

[Nacho-RT74]

http://wichargerguy.proboards.com/thread/18732/rebuild-restore-horns

[johnnycharger]

Thanks for the great information! I saved a copy of the pdf for my next go at it..
So I can get some level of sound out of it but it sure isnt right or consistent.  i am going to throw a cheap set of horns in it for now for safety. All the ones I saw at the parts store had two male connectors.... will these work as replacements with our one wire set up?

[Ghoste]

Chrysler did have replacements available not too long ago, I don't know if they still do or not but it might be worth a phone call to your local dealer.  They don't look the same at all but they sound the same and fit.

[twodko]

John,

Have you searched ebay for one? I can't imagine they'd be crazy expensive. 

[ODZKing]

I have an excellent horn restoration page on my website that a fellow on another forum put together.
http://www.retrorarities.com/images/HornsRepairRestore.pdf

[bill440rt]

Yep, that's the article I was referring to! 
Great write-up.

If they don't work in the end at least you've given a go at it. Used horns are still fairly plentiful, they were used on EVERY passenger car so they should be fairly easy to find.
For some reason the Prestolite's are a little more difficult to find, but they are out there.

[myk]

John,

Have you searched ebay for one? I can't imagine they'd be crazy expensive. 

The problem is how scarce they are; I can't remember the last time I've ever seen them for sale on e-gouge, and when I do, it's for a price that I'm not willing to pay.  Maybe I should install Road Runner horns?  BTW I only have one of the horns; how do I tell if it's the high or the low one?

[74bluecharger440]

My horns were barely audible so I went to Napa and got a set ,installed them and nice and loud.. If you need to wake someone up who isn't paying attention, nothing better than loud,,..

[myk]

Eh, I got one horn working.  Even with only one horn the Charger still sounds like it has more balls than anything else on the streets...

[bill440rt]

John,

Have you searched ebay for one? I can't imagine they'd be crazy expensive. 

The problem is how scarce they are; I can't remember the last time I've ever seen them for sale on e-gouge, and when I do, it's for a price that I'm not willing to pay.  Maybe I should install Road Runner horns?  BTW I only have one of the horns; how do I tell if it's the high or the low one?

The horns will be marked HI or LO where the stampings are. You might have to remove them from the car to read it.
Don't look on eBay for horns. I've seen them at high prices there as well. Check swap meets, online forum classifieds, etc. I don't think I paid more than $35 bucks for a pair of them, which is pretty cheap.
They kind of sound like a sick duck with only one working, wait until you hear what it sounds like when they both work! 

[MaximRecoil]

If you're not concerned about it being "concours correct", there are plenty of vehicles to choose from for replacement horns. For my '69, which had no horns at all when I got it, I took the horns (2 of them in the set, high and low) off a 1984 Dodge Ramcharger sitting in my friend's junkyard. The mounting brackets are bent differently, so I just bent them to fit in a '69 Charger. They were made by Spartan if I remember right, and look similar to the horns in your picture. They are loud and sound good.

[johnnycharger]

Thanks for the great tips! I am hoping to hit the local junk yards tomorrow! 

[ChargerST]

I put a 4-note horn set out of a 90s Cadillac Deville in my Charger..and I LOVE it! 

Nice and loud (120 decibels) train horn sound!

[warpspeed]

I haven't looked at the referenced articles, so I am just shooting from the hip.  My 68 horns didn't work, so I started unscrewing the little bolt on the side that was shown earlier here.  As I backed off, the horn was grounded and it started working. I backed it all the way out and then started screwing them in until I got the tone I wanted.  No more problems.