67' Horn rebuild or not??

[Carmen Filletti]

Considering rebuilding my horms on my 67'435hp. They're sounding real sick!! Both were working but neither of them were working correctly. I took apart one by drilling out the rivets, and cleaned the points with an emery board. I held it back together and applied 12v to it and nothing happens at all now!! Any pointers from anyone that has been through it before?? I've read the article in the corvette restorer. Inside looks pretty good. Very little corrosion. Question is should I forge onward and buy the rebuild kit from Paragon, or try to find some working horns elsewhere??

[Joe L.]

Re: 67' Horn rebuild or not??

Carmen-----

If it were me, I'd try to rebuild what you have. Many "original horns" are going to be in the same state of repair as the ones you have or they soon will be after you purchase them for a King's ransom.

Better yet, I'd have someone rebuild them that knows what they're doing. Dennis Portka of Hamburg, NY is a person who DEFINITELY KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING with these horns. Trouble is, I don't know if he does it anymore, or not.

[Chuck G.]

Re: 67' Horn rebuild or not??

I know a little bit about rebuilding horns....from hanging around with a pair of guys who do it. It's not only the electrical "things" that go bad. Putting the horn back together is a science. You have to equally tension the steel diaphragm using the rivets....like "tuning" a snare drum. If you don't, the diaphragm won't vibrate correctly. Ron Goralski and Chuck Walker, members of my Chapter...Mason Dixon...do horns too. Contact me offline and I'll give you their information. Chuck

[Gary Schisler]

Re: 67' Horn rebuild or not??

As Chuck and Joe have said, this can be a bit tricky. As long as you have gone to the extent of taking the horn apart, take a good look at the diaphram. I had to use two donor horns from a salvage yard to get decent diaphrams. I used a section of wire and when I found a possible candidate and a still working salvage yard battery, I used the wire to put some juice to the horn to test it. If the points are cleaned and you have a good diaphram, check the tuning knob at the back of the horn. You can screw this in or out to adjust the tone. The hardest part about rebuilding the horn is getting a good clean peaned over rivet. I used Zip's horn rebuild kit and it is a fairly complete kit.
Gary

[Carmen Filletti]

Re: 67' Horn rebuild or not??

Thanks for your help guys!! Seems that the battery I was using was NG. I used a 12v cordless drill battery last night and it works. I need to get some screws and nuts to hold it together on a temp. basis, so I can try to tune it!! If i'm lucky enough to tune it properly, then I'll take one screw out at a time and rivit it. Thanks again for all the help.