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Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 11:14 pm
by bdtutton
I recently purchased an early 1914 Touring car and I am trying to complete the restoration started by the previous owner. I have the squeeze bulb and the horn, but I have not purchased the brass tubing to connect them because I am not sure where to mount the bulb. Does anyone know where the squeeze bulb was mounted from the factory in October of 1913?? I find pictures of the bulb mounted in several locations and I was wondering if there was an issue with the original location and people found it worked better in other locations or are people just mounting the bulb wherever they want ??

Thank you....Bryan

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 11:24 pm
by ThreePedalTapDancer
Per Royce on older thread...
]I just measured the horn tube hole location on my original 1914 firewall. The hole is 11 1/2 inches from the top and 3 inches from the left. Measurements are to the center of the 1 inch hole. Two round head wood screws hold the horn in place.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/143248.html

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 11:34 pm
by bdtutton
Thank you for the information, but the problem I have is where to mount the squeeze bulb.

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 11:59 pm
by SleepyT
I have a 14 roadster with original wood. My horn bulb is mounted approximately 14 inches from the firewall 2 inches down from the top of the body. There is a 1” by 4” by 2” block of wood below the top rail of the body for the horn bulb to mount to. I hope this helps.

Russell

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 9:36 am
by TWrenn
This link from Lang's may help. They have "kits" that would otherwise pretty much dictate to you where to put the bulb.
Otherwise, grab ur bulb by the horn (LOL...sorry, had to try to be funny!) and sit in the drivers seat and move it around
with your left hand and find what's comfortable to you! Good luck!

https://www.modeltford.com/item/6432HS2.aspx

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 10:22 am
by Original Smith
It appears to me that whoever drilled the holes for the bracket to the block, must have eye balled it. I have a collection of early photos, and they are rarely the same! Some are even straight up and down. Maybe Russ could send you the dimensions. I'd be happy to do that off my '13.

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 1:00 am
by KWTownsend
No dimensions, but here is a picture...

: ^ )

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 1:02 am
by KWTownsend
Oh, and here is the correct bulb mounting bracket:
1914-1915 bulb horn bracket 1.jpg

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 10:36 am
by Original Smith
Keiith: What year was that one used on? Mine all have the turned bracket.

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 10:54 am
by bdtutton
I have a bracket like the one in the picture from KWTownsend, but I don't know what this turned bracket is.
Can you describe or post a picture?

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 8:55 am
by jerry knouse
[attachment=0]Model T 1914 Horn.jpg[/attachment

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 9:57 am
by Bud Delong
Anyone know if the placement was the same for all body MFG's??? Bud. :D

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 10:48 am
by Original Smith
I've always wondered how the assembly line guys screwed the horn to the firewall. The screws are #9 X 7/8 brass round head slotted, or were they steel? Those screws are difficult to turn!

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 2:02 pm
by George House
Drill a pilot hole with a well researched depth then rake your 2 screws over bar soap. Makes ‘em much easier to install.

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 3:56 pm
by TWrenn
Original Smith wrote:
Fri May 21, 2021 10:48 am
I've always wondered how the assembly line guys screwed the horn to the firewall. The screws are #9 X 7/8 brass round head slotted, or were they steel? Those screws are difficult to turn!
Larry, I could come up with a more intense, colorful word!! :lol: But wanna keep it clean, after all this is a family website!!

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 4:53 pm
by JimDix
Was / is there a repop bracket made like in Keith's picture? All I see is the kind with the round upright, which are, er, less than optimal. I made one like in Keith's picture and it works great. Seems like there would be a market for something more robust. I got one from RV that looked to be silver soldered and it was better.

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 10:42 pm
by KWTownsend
Here is the 1915 bracket. It does not stick out as far as the 1914 bracket.
1915 horn bulb bracket 3.JPG
1915 horn bulb bracket 3.JPG (47.62 KiB) Viewed 2599 times
Here are dimensions, thanks to Corey Walker:
1915 horn bulb bracket 7 Cory sketch.jpg
1915 horn bulb bracket 7 Cory sketch.jpg (50.99 KiB) Viewed 2599 times
Any it won't break like the turned and soldered together reproduction brackets!

: ^ )

Re: Mounting of Bulb Horn in 1914 Touring

Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 1:27 pm
by R.V.Anderson
Two problems with the early 09-12 (long) repop bracket: 1. They are, as Keith pointed out, sort of swedged together and soldered, an arrangement that is easily knocked apart in actual use; 2. Not a problem with the piece per se, but a lot of guys use this bracket on the late '12-'14 cars, which should not be done because it's too long and gets in the way of the driver's knee. This usually breaks it. The long brackets are meant to be mounted on the outside of the body. The correct late '12-'14 bracket, which mounts on the inside, is much shorter. These are the ones that I make. They look original but have a threaded "spine" which runs inside the full length of the spindle and up into the tube, where the protruding end is milled off. It is then soldered in place. This makes it considerably stronger.

Exploded view: correct late '12-'14 bracket, correct reed/holder assembly, correct horn bulb:
later horn bkt., etc 001.JPG
Assembled. The reed is up inside the bulb sleeve; the brass flex tubing with the short threaded sleeve on the horn end is sweat into the other end of the bracket to make the complete assembly:
later horn bkt., etc 002.JPG