Dad found a horn today at an antique mall… for 38 bucks, had him pick it up. I think its a 13-14 with oval base. May or may not work for my January 1915 body. We shall see, but the horn definately fits my car’s patina!
I bet you can make it work on your '15. You may have to notch the oval bracket a bit to make it work. The '15 horn is very much the same other than the bracket which is notched for a reason. You will also have to find the original reed holder / bulb bracket, and the elbow that connects the horn to the flexible brass tubing. The elbow is necessary in order that the horn tubing clears the pedals.
The bulb bracket / reed holder is unique for 1915 as is the elbow but there seem to be lots of them around.
Thank you for the encouragement! I agree, it should be able to work. Part of me wants to try to trade for a 15 horn, but the reality is, you just never find a horn, in this condition that matches my rpu’s look for 38 bucks, so I think we’ll make it work. Rebuilding the rear end and new tires before summer is the first focus, but it is nice to have found a horn.
I took some additional photos at the garage today. Cheers!
Royce,
Good day! I appreciate your knowledge on these 1915 and earlier cars! I hope you may be able to shed some light on my horn condition that I’ve moved further along. I’ve recently been able to pick up some additional materials for this horn. But I am not sure if I have what I need now to make it work (Namely the tube, I think it may be too short).
I did get a nice original elbow as part of the deal, which was exciting for me. I also got a 1913-14 (I believe it is anyways), horn tube. The tube measures about 20.5", and I think it has the 13-14 bracket with the round stand-off. As you can see from my photos, I believe this will be too short for my application. Am I right?
From the late RV Andersen’s catalog, I’ve found the following notations for the reproductions he provided.
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Horn tubing 1913 – 1914 correct bracket and threaded sleeve 20” long unpolished 95.00
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Horn tubing with correct bracket for 1915 for bulb horns mounted under hood 30” long order elbow separately 127.00
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Horn tubing with correct bracket 1915 short style 24” long mounts on dummy door panel. Order elbow separately. 119.00
Does anyone know what the difference is between the two 1915 styles of tubing? the shorter one lends you to believe that it is what is needed to go to the mounting on the block in the driver ‘door’ panel. However, where would the 30" one be used then? If my earlier tube is an earlier tube and is too short, I am not terribly worried. I am sure I can re-sell and/or trade for a 15 if I put the feelers out there.
Also included in the parts are a repro horn bulb and a brass reed holder (no reed). I know the bulb is a repro. Does anyone thing the brass reed holder is a repro or is new? Hard to tell as all brass tarnishes with age.
Thank you in advance for your time and attention and for the excellent resource this forum is. When it comes to the bulb horns, there just doesn’t appear to be a lot out there published on the various forums. Once I collect information, I might just try to consolidate everything I have learned in a post for the benefit of the hobby.
Andy
Looking at my door sub-frame. It sure looks like a shorter horn was mounted at some point. See the two red arrows pointing to screw holes. The larger holes in the door @ the top of the sill are likely from a klaxon horn that may have been installed at some point…
In 1914 horns the reed screws into the horn and the flexible tube is shorter.
In 1915 horn tube the flexible tubing is longer, while the reed mounts to the bulb fixture.