53 Ford mainline horn

[Kevin - Illinois]

Ugh, I hate electrical stuff... I converted my Mainline from 6V+ to 12V-. Everything works perfect except for the horn. The car was rewired and has a modern fuse box. I can get power from the fuse box no problem, but how to I wire it so the steering wheel horn button works?

[charles in east texas]

When I changed from 6 to 12 volts, I did not do anything about the horns being 6 volts.
They work great on 12 volts, just a little louder. Make sure your horn is not the problem
Bench test it. Charles

[51 MERC-CT]

The wire to the button is a grounding wire that activates a horn relay. (should be somewhere on the engine compartment cowling.)

[JeffB2]

On my '54 there was a wire coming out of the steering close to the firewall,have someone press the horn button to see if you have current there.When I went 12 volts I mounted a 12 volt horn behind the grille and ran it direct,the 6 volt system originally had a horn relay you may have to replace it with a common Bosch relay if it's fried.

[JeffB2]

One other suggestion,If you find that after the rewire that your headlights seem dim get this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/281146739569...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I moderate the 1952-59 Ford Group on the HAMB and a lot of our members found this really brightens things up a bunch.The problem is because the old Ford switch doesn't like playing nice with the extra current draw of the newer Halogen 12 volt bulbs that you probably changed over to,the relays will fix that.

[George/Maine]

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I have a 1954 car and it was changed over to neg ground. Its still 6 volt.
The horn doesn't work. Would that be why I have no horn.

[gearhead1952]

Originally Posted by George/Maine

I have a 1954 car and it was changed over to neg ground. Its still 6 volt.
The horn doesn't work. Would that be why I have no horn.

No. Horns don't care about polarity. They are just a coil of wire.

[JeffB2]

A cheap volt meter would be your best friend like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/7-funct...ter-92020.html That way you can trace the circuit to see if you are getting current.If you don't have some one to hold down the horn ring wrap some duct tape around it while you test,look for the wire coming out of the steering column under the hood by the firewall check it first then on to the relay.Here is a wiring diagram and what the relay looks like.

[George/Maine]

I haven't checked it out yet. Thought by going to neg grd it may have affected the relay. I guess I could reverse the battery maybe the horn would work.
Thanks George

[rotorwrench]

All of the old FoMoCo cars used a relay for the horns. This served a dual purpose. It kept the grounding wire for the horn relay activation circuit a smaller gauge size and no current flow passes through the relay coil & wiring unless the horn control switch is activated. The relay contactor circuit has larger gauge wiring in the horn activation circuit to direct more current flow straight from the battery to the horns.

If there is no horn function, you have to test the relay function first to insure it is working to activate the horns. You can ground the relay to any convenient ground to test it on the car. If the horns still don't work, then you have to test the individual horns. Horns operate on a vibrator coil principle and sometimes need the points cleaned for the vibrator coil to function. You have to open them up to do that.

[Kevin - Illinois]

Thank you all! The missing piece was the relay!