Mounting a magneto horn

[Reno Speedster]

My 22 starter car did not have a horn when it came but I do have a hand operated klaxon and a magneto horn on hand (a little worse for wear and with a few dents that I plan to smooth out). Some checking showed my car was made January 11, 1922 and the battery horn came out after that, so it would have had a magneto horn. All to the good.

My mag horn has the mount for attaching it to the firewall see below). But, in looking at different books and photos in the Ford shop manual I see variations in how it is mounted. Some pictures show what look like small spacers between the horn and firewall. Others appear to show no spacers. What’s correct for 22. Also, my horn is the earlier type that has two wire attachments. From what I have read, one of these should be grounded to the housing and the other should be the hot, which runs off the mag post, to the horn button then down to the horn. Do I have all that right? If yes, Can I connect to the mag at the junction block or should I run a wire straight to the mag post?

I am having a ball getting this one back to road condition. It makes a nice change from my long running speedster project, which I really need to get back to work on.

[Humblej]

I believe the answer is your mounting bracket is wrong for your year car. After starters became an option with some cars using a mag horn and some using a battery horn, the horns were different but the brackets were the same. Looking at the 1928 Ford Parts Manual, the mag horn and battery horn both had the same 26-27 mounting bracket and that latest version of mag horn was a retrofit item back to 1915. Of course that was not the mounting bracket used originally in 1915, but it would certainly work as a replacement on cars 1915-1927 as the water inlet mounting holes are the same. Also, a wood firewall mounted horn would need a seperate ground, an engine mounted horn would not. Anyone with an earlier parts manual should be able to verify the correct bracket pre 1926 improved car, but I suspect you need the bracket that uses one head bolt and one water inlet bolt.

horn.jpg (59.03 KiB) Viewed 1981 times

[DanTreace]

Jeff's info is correct.


And here are the dates for the 1922 magneto bracket change to mount that horn on the engine instead of the firewall.

The magneto horn was mounted to the firewall using the flat five-hole bracket (T6437A) until about 4/26/22 when the battery horn first appeared. The battery horn was also mounted on the firewall using an offset bent horn bracket similar to the five-hole flat bracket except for an offset “z” bend in it. This bracket was T6437B.
On 5/17/22 a new bracket T6437C was designed and this is the common motor mounted horn bracket used on both the battery horn and magneto horn through 1925.. B. McCalley CD Encyl.

[Reno Speedster]

According to Bruce McCalley’s book, the horn mount that attaches with one water inlet bolt and one head bolt was developed for the battery horn, after which it was standard for both horns until the mag horn was dropped. My car was made on January 11, 1922 and, according to Dan’s post the battery horn didn’t come in till about April 26, 1922, more than 3 months after my car was made. McCalley says it’s not clear exactly when the battery horn was adopted but it happened in 1922. Based on that, I think the mount I have is the correct one for my car.

My question is about the mount. Do I need to make some little spacers or does it just go flat to the firewall? The pictures show both methods.

[old_charley]

My cosmetically unrestored '22 touring was built on July 26 of '22. I purchased the car from Bud Scudder who bought it off of the original owner's farm in Melbourne, KY in 1982. It was a non starter-generator car originally and I have no reason to think this isn't the original horn. It is mounted flat to the firewall with no spacers. The depression in the firewall from the bracket indicates there weren't any spacers. My car would have been assembled in either Cincinnati or perhaps Louisville. Contrary to Bruce's book, it has the switch on the coil box and no dashboard. It fits with the idea that there are no hard and fast dates for parts changeovers and various assembly plants used up what they had on hand before updating to new parts.

[Mark Gregush]

Looking at Bruce's book page 323, shows a horn mounted with spacers. This is what I think may be going on in that picture. The magneto horn had a different rear cover, the bump over the magnet was smaller than the battery horn. Reading the text, I think the horn in the picture was the battery horn that was mounted on the firewall for a short time in 1922, its rear cover needed the spacers to clear the firewall. Except for 1915 picture which shows spacers (could have been rear cover or cutout on firewall?), the other photos I see in his book, show the magneto horn mounted without spacers.
The battery horn used what I would call a tuna can cover while the magneto horn more of a top hat, if you get my meaning.
Suggest taking the nut off the lower right steering column mounting bolt and do a trial fit. Does your wood firewall have the 2ed hole towards the engine?
Because the time period being asked about is only a few months, could be open for much debate. The only way to know would be to find a car that has never been restored or molested, or maybe a change notice in the records.

[Reno Speedster]

My car is a metal dash, but it does have the extra hole. The explanation of the spacers for the battery horn makes sense to me and I think that no spacers is the right call. I have seen other period pictures that have no spacer with this mount.

[Mark Gregush]

Guess if you have the metal firewall, you will need to check fit. The horn would move back the thickness of the wood and may be back too far. Your metal firewall is a replacement as Ford did not start using them till sometime in 1923. Because it is nonstock, you may have to use spacers or mount the horn on the water inlet. Any pictures up to the build date of your car, that you have seen, would not match what you are working with.

[Scott_Conger]

I'm going to bet that mounting a horn on a steel firewall is going to cause the horn to vibrate mercilessly, with bad things eventually happening to the firewall.

[BigBen]

I have a '22 like old charley's. Mine is a starter car and has a battery horn mounted with the same bracket and same position, only one wire though.

[SteveBoothroyd]

My T touring car was built on May 26 1922 and has a wood firewall and came with a factory installed starter, and a magneto horn mounted to the firewall.
As Ford had many localized assembly plants (mine was in Seattle), there may have been supply issues from the factory in Detroit just like now, resulting in existing parts being used until the new battery horns became available.
Some assembly plants may have had the battery horns available before other plants.

Just a thought.

Regards,

Steve Boothroyd