My 82 is Horny!!!

[ga.spyder]

Thats right ,thanks to my friend Ace I am the proud owner of the far superior(I was told I had to say that) early model air horns.I opened the box and ran out to my truck to try them.Held the contacts against the battery and ...AHHHH!! Those suckers are loud.I have the compressor mounted and have the wiring done.I am having a little problem figuring how to mount the horns.There is no room in the engine bay of a F.I. car,so they will have to go behind the grille.Any advise or pics from a late model owner?I will have to use about 24'' of hose ,but I jury-rigged it in and that doesnt affect the perfomance of the horns.Thanks as always for any input.I have to go now...my ears have started bleeding again!
Craig

[rlux4]

I heard your horns honking!
(I was at Ace's a while back and he showed me what horns on a Spider are supposed to sound like with the set he sent to you.)
Aren't you going to mount them behind the grill, roughly in the location of the originals?
Ron

[ventura ace]

Craig, here's a picture of where they were mounted in the '76 that they came out of, compressor inside left front fendor down low, and horns in front of the radiator.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v26/v ... G_3963.jpg


Say, would you quit blowing those horns?!! May neighbors over here are freaking tired of the noise!

Alvon

[ga.spyder]

My son got home from football practice and I had him come out to the garage.I asked him to bend and check my front turn signal...than blasted him with my horns! Not nice, I know but it made up for some of the stuff he has done in the last 18 years!I have the compressor wired and mounted to the fender.I removed the grille,but was trying to leave the stock horns in place.There isnt any place to mount the air horns.Maybe on the plate in front of the rad,between the upper and lower grille? I will go ahead and remove the electric horns and see if that opens up a space.
Craig

[mdrburchette]

Heaven forbid if you have to drill a couple mounting holes for the horn brackets....Hey, is this yet another way for an 82 owner to get closer to an early Spider without paying the price?

[mbouse]

Eh? somebody sayin' something? I suddenly went deaf with all that blatting.

i made my own bracket and mounted both my compressor and horns between the radiator and the grill, hanging them from the upper shelf between the hood hinges.

and, i did so while keeping the factory electric horns still attached to the horn button. i used a separate switch for the air horns.

[WarbirdAL]

That is Hil air ious. I just got some air horns off of ebay for my 77. I was just going to replace the electric horns but you say you use a separate switch for the air horns? IS the button on your steering wheel activate the regular ones and then a separate switch for the air horns. not a bad idea

[mbouse]

right. a separate n/o switch with a mometary push button mounted under the dash powers the air horns. stock steering column switch powers the electric horns.

and, if you look at a tractor supply place (i live in KOW KUNTRY) you can find heavy duty push buttons that need no relay... simplfying the wiring.

[ga.spyder]

Got it! I mounted the horns to a piece of 3/16'' steel plate, then drilled 2 holes in the plate .I used sheet metal screws to mount the plate w/ horns to the sheet metal between the upper and lower grilles.Completely out of sight ,except for the air line from compressor.I kept my stock horns,but used their power wire for the compressor.Who would want the electrics after hearing those air horns anyway!
Mike,on my test drive what should be in the road but a herd of our friends...the deer!I ran at them and hit the air horns.Shoulda seen em' jump!Headed for N.C. when last seen.Denise ,the air horns are part of my attempt to preserve the marque.I gave the old fellas a new home in a reliable,fuel injected car.That should keep them on the road indefinitely!
Thanks again,Ace.The horns are the most fun modification I have done to this car.I dont know why Fiat ever quit putting them in.
Craig

[manoa matt]

Just curious, but why do you need two seperate horn systems? When I lived in Chicago, horns were used more than any other feature on the car. A great way to vocalize your displeasure of other drivers actions. Here in Hawaii, the horn is only used as a friendly signal to let other cars in front of you.

[ventura ace]

I'm glad they worked out well for you, Craig. You're lucky I didn't swap out parts for mine!! They are louder than mine. I believe those are the loudest set I've heard.

I'm sure you've noticed how the driver's seat head rest pushes against the horn button when you fold the seat forward to put things in or out of the bag seat?? That's always gets me by surprise, and anybody else close by when it happens.

Alvon

[rlux4]

Ace, those of us who haven't driven around the country on an 8000 mile trip with our spouse call it the back seat.
For an 8000 mile trip it would be the bag seat.
Ron

[mdrburchette]

I had to read that post twice, Ron. I thought for a minute you were calling the passenger seat the bag seat!

[ventura ace]

Oops! Thanks for the correction, Ron. Actually, both front seats could be called the bag seat, since she helped me with the driving quite a bit on that trip. And yes, we put a lot of stuff in the back seat . . . . Uh, what'd you say, hon?? . . . . . Guess I'm sleeping in the garage tonight. I wonder what it's like in the back seat!

[mbouse]

Matt -
when i installed my air horns, i was stuck in the mode of "keeper original". I decided i needed air horns in addition to the stock horns.

well....even though i have gotten over my obsession with the "original" idea, i never ditched the dual system; just got used to the idea that i have two sets of horns.

here in KOW KUNTRY when you beep at the deer, they just look up to see what kinda car is passing by, if they show any interest at all. our horns are used in conjunction with pleasant hand signals to let the farmers know how pleased we are to see them on the highway with their farm machinery.