Horn Restoration...

[Andy F.]

I have a 64 Convertible that I am in the process of restoring. I recently took the horns off of the car to clean them up and repaint. They worked when I took them off, but now do not. I cleaned off the old paint in a bead blasting cabinet...I plugged the opening with a wad of tissue paper. When I painted it, I used Krylon semi-gloss black from a rattle can. I had masked off the connector so I would not get paint on that. They both came out looking really nice, however now they dont work. Anyone have any clues about what I might have done wrong? The media in the blasting cabinet was very mild and did not pit the pot metal...I was very careful not to blast off the part numbers and other markings.

If I messed them up, has anyone had any experience with the resto service that Paragon or Corvette Central offer? Price ranges? Thanks for your help.

[Joe S.]

Re: Horn Restoration...

Don't know about other places but Corvette Specialties of MAryland makes them like new for $125.

http://www.corvettespecialtiesofmd.com

"Corvette Horn:

Rebuild and restore your original parts. Base cost $125.00 each."




Joe's 63 FI Convertible

[Jim W.]

Re: Horn Restoration...

Member Ron Goralski did my '67 horns a few years ago. The contact information I have for him is e-mail byegonevette@aol.com or call 410-987-1948. Retail vendors who offer these type services may be fine but I prefer to go directly to the expert who does the work. Good luck. Jim W Member #2978

[Jack H.]

Suspect your 'restoration' may be too good!

Circuit is B+ from the horn relay to the horn's terminal lug with an implied horn-to-rad core support ground. If you got the surface finish of the horn(s) SO pretty with fresh paint, you may not have a good ground!

Remove the horns and exercise them on the bench. You'll need a REAL battery vs. a lab power supply due to the instantaneous current surge need to fire the horn. Connect the horn electrical terminal (make sure its clean) to battery POS terminal and the battery NEG terminal to the mounting bracket. Make sure you have a paint-free contact point on the horn frame (typically where the mounting bolt installs) and verify, off-car, they'll honk.

If they do, now go back and look at the 'nest' for the horns. Do you see +12 VDC at the wiring harness' connector vs. good chassis ground when you hit the horn? If not look at the horn relay as a possible fault item. If yes, suspect the integrity of grounding between the horn, rad core support and the chassis....

[Andy F.]

Re: Suspect your 'restoration' may be too good!

Thanks for the tip...I'll let you know how it goes.

[Chuck M.]

Re: Suspect your 'restoration' may be too good!

Try Dennis Portka in New York. His ad is in Hemmings under "Horns" in the Corvette parts section

Chuck