Yesterday I completely disassembled and cleaned the horn. It wasn’t working so I wanted to be sure that it wasn’t full of gunk first, before I looked elsewhere for the problem. It’s a pretty neat device, and very cleverly made. It’s really interesting to look inside something that was made in the time before today’s methods of mass production. If someone decided to put the same style of horn on a production car today the whole thing would be disposable. The instructions I have for the maintenance and repair of the Model A horn include information on wrapping the copper wire coils and all manner of things that no one would ever do (or in some cases, know how to do) today.

The horn is one of those classic Ahhwooogaaah horns, and the way it works it pretty cool. There is a diaphragm at the base of the bell (where the sound comes out) and the diaphragm has a little nub on it. When you push the horn button, a motor spins, and on the end of the motor shaft is a disk with big teeth on it. The teeth strike the nub and it makes a noise. With a bunch of teeth in a row striking the nub, and the variation in frequency of those strikes as the motor speeds up and slows down, you get the classic Ahhwooogaaah!

There was some gunk in the horn, but for the most part it was fine. I’m glad I took it apart though because now not only do I know how the horn works, and how to adjust it, but I also know for sure that the problem lies elsewhere. Unfortunately, in order to repair the horn button that is in the middle of the steering wheel, I have to remove the entire steering column. There is a test to do first to make sure that is the problem, and I will do the test, but I see another big project in my future. This is a good time though since I have the radiator off anyway and it won’t be back from the shop for a while.