Anyone dissected and repaired a horn?

[Deanoko]

I've got an original low note 63 Riviera horn which "ist kaput" Anyone here pulled one apart to see what makes them tick? I've read that it can be done on other forums but no one has provided the method.

Thanks,
Deano K.

[Deanoko]

Hmmm.. I seem to be the only one answering my questions...

I found this link on a Corvette site which gives a REALLY NICE step by step description of the rebuilding process along with a source for the repair kit:

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/tech...beep-beep.html

[JZRIV]

[quote=Deanoko;74543]Hmmm.. I seem to be the only one answering my questions... /quote]

And a fine job you did! I was watching to see if anyone repsonded. Thats a great link. Thanks for finding it and posting. I wonder if that repair kit is universal to most GM horns.

[Deanoko]

My offending horn is 5" in diameter. I ordered a kit from ZIP's which, as of yesterday, was 10% off with free shipping for a total of $32+. I know people who want more than that for a rusty POS horn from their back 40. I'll keep the forum posted on my progress. I did send them an email asking what the dimensions of the gaskets were but haven't heard back from them yet.

Deano K.
63 Rivvie

[Deanoko]

Follow up: I received my horn rebuild kit from Zips. Unfortunately it will not do me any good because the diameter of the stock Buick horn is larger than the Corvette horn, so none of the gaskets or vibration disks fit.
I pulled my inop low tone horn apart and found the inside to be pretty rusty with the coil point contacts completely shot. I was able to find an operable horn of the same size which has a different mounting tab configuration. I'm in the process of reconfiguring the mounting tab to match the one on the inop horn since it doesn't look very easy to swap them out.

[bob k. mando]

i think most horns fail because of corrosion. and by the time they fail, people don't want to mess with them because they're so easy to replace.

i see you've got a special one that you're trying to preserve though.



and found the inside to be pretty rusty with the coil point contacts completely shot.

yeah, about what i expected.

it wouldn't surprise me if you'll need to wind up fabricating/adapting new pieces.

have you tried that guy in TX who specializes in NOS parts?

[Deanoko]

It's nice to have a friend that works in a machine shop! He was able to use a press and a torch to persuade the bracket on the good horn to "behave" as if it came from the 63 Riviera.

You're right, I am trying to stay as stock as possible. Thanks for the resource links!

A side note - the good horn that I purchased for $5 was from an unknown car but the horn itself is identical to the 63 Buick, just the bracket was different. We surmised that it came from an earlier application because the bracket was made from a lot beefier material. Both brackets were 3 spot welded to the horn case and were not coming off without a big fight!

Deano K.
63 Riviera
and others....

[Deanoko]

Mounted and hooked it up last night. Sounds like a real car again!! Now... to source some trumpet horns...