TheSamba.com :: View topic - Horn installation ideas, tips or pictures

Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:48 pm

My old broken down stock horn sounds sickly- like a mewing kitty or a sick calf. Not really enough to get anybody's attention if needed. I'm considering installing a louder horn. Perhaps an air horn. I don't really want to do much chopping or drilling or external mounting though. Can anyone post some pics of their horn exploits? I'm especially interested in discreet mounting options. Do the louder horns require a relay? Thanks.

Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:01 pm

im going for a train horn. loud, obnoxious, unnecessary.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:23 am

Ya I want the horn that plays different stuff, real classy things like the mexican hat dance, or aaahhoooga!

Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:24 am

If you're not dead set on an air horn, I have a suggestion. The horns of larger GM cars of the late '70s were pretty imposing - loud and deep. Check parts yards for Cadillacs and Buicks of that era.

J.C. Whitney has a decent selection of horns as well.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:50 am

I got my dirty paws on a set of dealer accessory 'sport horns.' Reportedly the single most commonly removed accessory. They are really LOUD. I just need to figure out where to mount them. I also need to find a switch so I can retain my friendly meep meep horn for waving to friends.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:06 am

For my project, I wanted something that looked somewhat like a stock horn, but with a bit better performance.

I purchased the Wolo 306-2T horns on the Internet at a decent price.

I didn't like the blingy chrome front grilles, so I carefully removed them, scuffed them up on a wire wheel and sent them to the powder coaters to have them coated with low gloss black, like the engine tin. I then re-assembled them with a parts kit that had stainless steel screws and reproduction Bosch Horn tags. They look just like the OEM Bosch horns used on early Porsche, Mercedes, etc.
When the bumpers were being restored, I had the welder add a matching horn bracket on the right side of the bumper, similar to the factory left one. I mounted the horns in the same location as stock, pointed down and forward as shown below:

They look great and sound even better. No little beep-beep horn for me!

Jerry

Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:09 pm

My Kubel doesn't have a horn yet. I was looking at KGPR's horns. They have "high" and "low" toned 12v horns that look a lot like the Kubel horn. Since it will be mounted on the outside of the nose, I'm after "looks" too, but which 'pitch" should I get?

I get to blow locomotive horns about every day, so I don't think I need one on my car :lol: :lol:

Thanks,

BNMike

Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:14 pm

Thanks all for the horn suggestions-

Jerry: your set up looks good- thanks for the how to. I Found the same horns you have pictured on Amazon for $50 and am getting ready to powder coat the bumpers anyway so I might just copy you. One more question for you - did you find adequate power from the stock horn wires or did you need a relay to power the dual horns?

Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:18 pm

Hella Dual Supertone horns are my horn of choice. Something like 110db and there Hella!!!

I have them on all my VW's, my Suzuki GS1100, my Cavalier and on the wife's xB.

Hella's part number is either 85115 or 30-85115

Here's a link to one retailer, Google will find you more :lol:

http://www.rapidparts.com/prod/85115-Hella-Dual-Su...75-Hz/1379

To answer you other question... You will need a relay.

Eric

Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:10 pm

A relay is definately recommended for dual horns. The steering wheel contacts are not made to take that much current.

You can pull back the wiring harness for the existing horn, and attach it to the coil of a 'Bosch' relay that you install in the front 'luggage compartment'. Then run a pair of new heavier power and ground wires out to the two horns. There is a hole already for the horn on the right side - probably plugged up right now. Then you need to grab some power from the fuse box with a heavier wire. You can run this in the same channel that the front headlight wiring harness travels down from the dashboard to the left headlight.

Jerry

Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:21 pm

I like to mess with some peoples minds sometimes. Making a Wolo horn look like an old Bosch horn was fun....

Here are the label plates to make a Wolo look like a Bosch:

Here is the stainless hardware kit but the horn labels are for 6V horns.

Sources are NLA Parts www.nlaparts.com and Stoddard www.stoddard.com

Jerry

Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:01 pm

Also if your horn now is weak check the contacts at the wheel and the grounds all the way to the horn. If you put a new horn and still have a bad ground in the system it will still be weak. Remember VW horns have power all the time and switch the ground.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:18 pm

SilverThing if you like I have a copy of the original instructions that show how to install with pics. The switch is a toggle ON/ON to switch from city to country as they called it. You will think these are air horns by how loud they are. These horns mount with a flat bracket off the lower front fender bolts.

Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:58 pm

Instructions would be fantastic. The horns I have came from a generic bosch kit that I found for sale in England on ebay and came with a pretty ratty wiring diagram that didn't show a switch. I know how loud they are; I bench tested them with a 12 volt power supply. I had hearing protection on and they were still loud. =)

Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:22 am

I got a set of Passat horns from a junked car my mechanic had. they come in a set; one high note, one low. I junked the low note and installed the high note only. It sounds EXACTLY like an old school Kubel horn. High and flat. Clean all the contacts and it will work fine.

Thu Mar 25, 2010 6:26 pm

I have a nos sport horn installation kit. it was made for the ghia dual horns.
also to make your horn alive again, take it off and clean the ground connection where it bolts to the bumper. this should help.
There is also an adjustment on some horns, its a screw, turn in or out till it sounds right

Sat May 22, 2010 6:39 pm

i went to a Pick-n-pull
and bought a pair off of a early 00's Land Rover
Mounted them on a metal strap bolted to the bumper bolts in/under each front fender

I DO have to install a relay
*they dont both work together all the time
Its more like progressive
But a relay should fix that

Sure in the Hell Doesnt Sound like ANY VW ive ever heard... :lol: :twisted:

Tue May 01, 2012 6:53 pm

Wed May 02, 2012 7:05 am

What is the fascination with loud horns? Y'all live in NYC or something?

The PO for my car had an air horn mounted inside the passenger fender. On of the first things I removed. I installed the stock horn. Seems plenty loud to me. Has that nice Roadrunner sound.

If someone is interested in the air horn set up I pulled let me know. Its just sitting in my garage and I will never use it.

Wed May 02, 2012 6:31 pm

NOVA Airhead wrote: What is the fascination with loud horns?

A great way to get the attention of some oblivious idiot that's about to pullout in front of you, is drifting into your lane while DWD(driving while distracted), or doing some other off the wall moronic thing while supposedly guiding a 4K+ lb vehicle on public roadways...

Folks are so enthralled with these stupid smart phones that they drive completely unsafe and are saved many a collision by the awareness of competent drivers out there focusing on, well..... DRIVING!!!!
LOL....
I use my Wolo compact Air horn about every 3rd drive in Our Thing, for the exact reasons stated above. Oblivious folk!!!
Here it is mounted on custom bumper with bracket in stock location. I had this horn mounted in the same place on my stock bumper as well.