Electrical: horns

[clifford]

Can someone tell me the purpose of the mounting setup on the horns on my 55 President- 3 horns held to car by a couple of sets of thin sheet metal type plates seperated by washers. Many of the sheetmetal pieces are broken or cracked and I need to replace them, but don't understand their purpose- why not mount them with a solid bracket, or does it have something to do with vibration? Thanks.

[StudeRich]

That sounds like a Custom install, did you check the 1955 to 1958 Studebaker Chassis Parts Catalog for correct mounting brackets and location?

I can tell you that, the THREE Horns used only on '55 Presidents do NOT all go on ONE Bracket.

[jclary]

Can someone tell me the purpose of the mounting setup on the horns on my 55 President- 3 horns held to car by a couple of sets of thin sheet metal type plates seperated by washers. Many of the sheetmetal pieces are broken or cracked and I need to replace them, but don't understand their purpose- why not mount them with a solid bracket, or does it have something to do with vibration? Thanks.

I think you have pretty well nailed the answer to your own question. Just as your suspension has shock absorbers, and your engine has flexible motor mounts, the horns have their mounts. If you think about it, horn electrical circuits are about the closest electrical item on a car to a "dead short." Within its small size, few parts of a vehicle operate as violently as a vibrating horn. Hard mount it and if it didn't self-destruct, probably the metal it is attached to would eventually break. Your flex pieces have sacrificed themselves as designed. Again, I doubt anyone from the factory making the horns, to the assembly worker installing them had any idea that 64 years later, someone would care for, or even cherish the horns and other components as we do today.

So, if yours are broken, here's your chance to search through those boxes under the table at swap meets. You know...it's the stuff vendors think nobody would buy but they sometimes bring them anyway. Even if the horn they are on isn't working, you can get your hands dirty grabbing them, and make a vendor relieved he doesn't have to haul it back home. Give him an extra buck or two and make both of you happy.

[rockne10]

... does it have something to do with vibration?

Bingo!!
In the parts catalog they are referred to as horn MOUNTING PLATES and SPACERS. I don't have the '55 book that would indicate part numbers for the 3rd horn but the plates and spacers for the other two horns are part No's 666768 (four) and 532990 (two) for Delco and Spartan horns in U.S. models, and 527167 (eight) and 530210 (four) for Auto-Lite horns in Canadian models. Not that anyone will have them laying around as a numbered part but, you never know. Stephen Allen lists the PLATE #666768 but he doesn't list a price, just "call." I'm sure lots of folks here have some of them laying in basement and garage boxes they would be happy to not throw away.

[Skip Lackie]

Studebaker bought horns from Delco, Spaton, and Auto-Lite during that period, and the mounting brackets, though similar, were a bit different. The correct brackets should not be hard to find if you can identify who made your horns (horns wear out, the brackets don't). If one of your horns is much longer than the other two, it's the fairly rare, 1955-only, optional AC-2705 kit. Not sure where this mounted, but it requires an additional reinforcement to prevent cracking to the sheet metal.

[clifford]

Thanks to all who answered my question. I have 3 horns, all Spartons, so will need to find the mounting plates for the 2 smaller ones- the ones on the large center horn are ok- looks like they are made of spring steel.

[Skip Lackie]

Out of curiosity, where is the large third horn mounted?

[clifford]

The third horn is mounted under the grille where the vee mounts and I assume uses the same bolts as attach the vee. I can't be sure of this, as the vee on my car was broken and removed to the trunk, but the horn was still underneath.

[Skip Lackie]

Thanks much.