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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 12 volt horn install in a 35 Ford

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 12 volt horn install in a 35 Ford -- page: 1 2     MittieLee1935 01-08-2020 @ 7:27 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Dec 2019 I recently purchased a 1935 Ford Deluxe that had been converted to 12v. The previous owner installed a 12v neg ground Ah Ugh Uh horn but I want to go back original. I ordered new 12 v neg high/low note horns and a 12 volt horn relay. Using the two wires (original wiring harness two wires that are in center) from the stock horn button on the steering wheel I was unable to figure out how to hook up the new horns. They only clicked and never blew. I decided to see if the original 6v horns would work and ran one of the wires from the bottom of the steering shaft to one horn terminal and a wire from the other horn terminal to the battery by way of the starter solenoid. The horn worked but of course was a little loud. When I connected the second horn on the right side it started to blow immediately. I haven't a clue what I did wrong. Being 6v horns, I am not using the horn relay switch as I understand only 12v horns need to use the relay. I guess I could get by with only one 6v horn on my 12v system, but I really would like to use the 12 v horns and the original horn button on the steering wheel. Mac's says to send back the non working 12v horns and they will replace them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks This message was edited by MittieLee1935 on 1-8-20 @ 7:54 PM supereal 01-09-2020 @ 9:34 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The original horn circuit in your '35 was one side to the starter button, which provided ground to the horns, and the other horn wire which was connected to the battery at the starter switch. Thus, when the button was pushed, the horns operated. Your 12 volt horns need a horn relay, as horns require a high current. The original horn button wires should be connected to the relay coil. One side of the horns goes to ground, the other to one of the relay points. The other relay point is connected to the ungrounded side of the battery at a convenient point under the hood. When the horn button is pushed, the relay closes, furnishing power to the horns to blow. Most 6 volt cars don't have a horn relay until later years when horn rings came into use, and the relay eliminated the slight electrical shock when the ring or button was pushed. Some horn relays have an internal connection for grounding, and should be tested to determine which type you have. The relay should be rated for 12volt use. MittieLee1935 01-09-2020 @ 1:10 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Dec 2019 Thanks for responding to my problem. So to be clear, I have a 3 prong 12v horn relay with the prongs labeled, H B S. So I take both horn button wires and wire them together to attach to the S. Then attach to the B a wire to the hot battery connection on my starter solenoid and then on the driver's side horn the Positive terminal has a wire going to the H with the negative terminal grounded to the body of car. Then ground the other passenger side horn to the car body and connect the positive terminal on that horn to the positive terminal on the driver's side horn. Does this sound correct? Also what size wiring should I use? Is 12 gauge okay? This message was edited by MittieLee1935 on 1-9-20 @ 1:13 PM supereal 01-10-2020 @ 1:56 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 H is horn. to be connected to both horns. B is battery, to be connected to a power source, and S is the switch (horn button). The two wires from the button old button are attached as follows: one wire to a ground, the other to the S terminal on the relay. The body of the horn relay should be grounded. The B terminal goes to a "hot' battery place, such as at the starter switch. The H pole on the relay goes to one of the terminals on each horn. The other on the terminal on the horns is to be grounded. I am assuming that the relay receives power from the B terminal internally, and when ground is furnished to the S button, the relay pulls. If not, the button will be furnished with power on one wire to be carried to the S terminal. Horn relays vary in this regard. Sorry to be so complicated for such a simple application. If you have any problems with this, leave a message. MittieLee1935 01-11-2020 @ 11:16 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Dec 2019 Thanks for all the information. As soon as the replacement horns come in from Ecklers, I will proceed with your suggestions. MittieLee1935 01-28-2020 @ 2:37 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Dec 2019 Well I just burnt up another $235.00 12v horn on my 1935 Ford. I had the original 6v horn hooked up and working without a horn relay. But since it was the consensus to run a horn relay I bought one. Of the two wires running off the spider to the horn button, I ran one to the S on the relay, a hot wire from my starter solenoid to the middle terminal which I guess is B as none of the terminals are marked and from the positive terminal on the horn to the H (far left) on the relay. I ran a ground wire from the negative terminal of the horn to the body of the car. The 6 volt horn blew until I decided the horn was crooked and loosened the mounting bolt and moved it around. Now I am blowing fuses (14 and counting) and the horn does not blow. If I hold it in my hands away from the car the horn will blow. I noticed that between the mounting bracket and the fender is a skinny rubber (make shift) washer. Does this have anything to do with the horn not working. I can also hold in my hand a $18.00 auto part store horn and it works just fine. Just doesn't look as pretty on the car as those wonderful 1935 Spartan Horns! This message was edited by MittieLee1935 on 1-28-20 @ 3:08 PM MG 01-28-2020 @ 4:11 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1247 Joined: Nov 2009 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fi1152.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp495%2Ftradeworks-int%2FTradeworksRan%2FRT_DH_12V_RT100%2520CHROME_04.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 MittieLee1935 01-28-2020 @ 4:56 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Dec 2019 That is exactly how I wired up horns before I quit for the day! But not before I shorted out and burnt up both 12v Spartan horns. That left me original 6 v horn that sounded with me holding it but as soon aS I bolted it down quit and blew 25 Amp fuse. I loosened the bolt to move bracket over and that’s when my problems started. I saw a small piece of rubber under mounting bracket between fender and bracket. Does this horn need insulation between top of fender and brAcket? This message was edited by MittieLee1935 on 1-28-20 @ 5:00 PM 37RAGTOPMAN 01-29-2020 @ 6:57 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1940 Joined: Oct 2009 12 VOLT HORN I would use jumper wires, to test the system before you wire it, use a 10 amp circuit breaker from the battery, the horns should work on a ground system, using a relay the horn button on the FORD, grounds the circuit so the horns blow, it has to work the same way, so you have wire it that way, to me it seems like when you install the horn, you are grounding the hot lead, causing the fuses to blow ,? did those horns come with a wiring diagram ? if you can post a photo of it, hope this helps 1937RAGTOPMAN WHY 12 VOLTS ?, my 37 with 6 volts and have no problems blowing the horns,with no relay MittieLee1935 01-29-2020 @ 7:52 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Dec 2019 I would have stayed with a 6v system but the previous owner completely removed all the original wiring harness and replaced with a 12v system and installed a aftermarket Ah Oug Ah horn. I wanted to use the original horns and got the left one to work without a relay by going from hot wire at starter solenoid to horn and applying ground to horn using one of the two wires from spider center from end of steering column. It worked great but of course was very loud so I bought the reproduction 12v neg Spartan horns. This is where my problems began. I’m using 14 gauge wiring and a 25 amp fuse. Yesterday I hooked up the drivers side horn going from positive terminal to horn relay (left terminal). I next went from - terminal on horn to body ground. Using center terminal on relay I went to starter solenoid with inline 25 amp fuse. Finally using the right connection on the horn relay I ran one of the wires from horn button (one I had on 6v horn ground) to the make the final connection. Before testing I noticed the horn was crooked so I loosened the bracket and noticed a small thin rubber gasket between the top of fender and bracket. When I tightened bracket bolt and pushed down on horn button on steering wheel the fuse blew. Does horn bracket need metal on metal ground or is gasket necessary. Right side horn bracket also has a gasket. Oh, the other horn wire while not hooked up when I was using 6v original horn I grounded to the frame. Last night I ordered 2 more 12v Spartan horns and at 550.00 a pair, I want to be positive about everything before I hook them up! $1000 just to use correct looking horns is crazy!!

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