question. not so horny 35 coupe

V

ventura

Member
Putting back together after many years. Staying 6 volt. I have a horn that will blow when I test it @ battery. Mounted it on firewall, good ground, ran wire to a new after market button, then to horn. All it does is click! Thoughts ??
 
A horn requires some serious wiring. A horn button and related wire is good only to activate a relay to hook up with heavy wire.
 
Why did you mount it on the firewall? 35 models had the horn mounted on the left fender,out side of the car.Do you have the original horn rod,light switch set up? Ford V8s didn't have horn relays until 1938! A photo of your setup may clarify things.
 
ventura said:
Putting back together after many years. Staying 6 volt. I have a horn that will blow when I test it @ battery. Mounted it on firewall, good ground, ran wire to a new after market button, then to horn. All it does is click! Thoughts ??
Click to expand...

Are you using the horn button for the ground? The horn should be wired to power and the horn button should provide the ground. If your not going for 100% original, I would take a look at the later Ford wiring. Ford thought it was an issue as well and changed to a relay around 38. Easy to wire using stock type horn relay, the horn button provides a ground. Even with the relay, the horn button is providing the ground.
 

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Not using original horn, as I didn't get one with car. Wiring harness shot , so for now I have rewired& added signal lights for safety. Using aftermarket switches, and want the car to maintain its original look. So, I guess I need a 6 volt relay.
 
ventura said:
Not using original horn, as I didn't get one with car. Wiring harness shot , so for now I have rewired& added signal lights for safety. Using aftermarket switches, and want the car to maintain its original look. So, I guess I need a 6 volt relay.
Click to expand...

Is it wired with a "hot" wire from the battery post on the starter relay to the horn (the "hot" being the (-) on the battery) and then a ground wire from the horn to your horn button and then to ground (ground being (+) on the battery)? It is a little hard to believe that this is not working. What gauge wire are you using? Is the horn 6v? and wired to the positive ground? Something just doesn't sound right here. How about a photo of the horn.
 
The horn is grounded to firewall with bolts, which is positive ground. I then fed by a hot wire from under dash. The after market button is in the feed wire. I think I need a relay as the horn is probably from the 40's.
 
ventura said:
The horn is grounded to firewall with bolts, which is positive ground. I then fed by a hot wire from under dash. The after market button is in the feed wire. I think I need a relay as the horn is probably from the 40's.
Click to expand...

That sounds like the issue, you are reversing the way horns normally work on a Ford by using the horn button on the hot side. I thought something didn't sound right. The relay might work ok with this arrangement. There are some other things you could test first. The bolts may not be providing a good ground. Try a test wire directly from the hot side of the starter solenoid to the horn and see if that works. If not there must be a ground issue. To test the ground connect a test wire from the ground screws on the horn to the (+) terminal on the battery. The body may not be grounded well to the battery.

The relay diagram I posted is for a hot feed to a horn that is grounded to the body/frame (like your setup) so should work fine for you. You would wire the hot lead of the relay to the starter solenoid and the trigger terminal would wire through your horn button to a ground. Good luck!
 
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