QuestionI have a car or truck horn that I am trying to identify. What would be my best way to go about that? Thanks
AnswerIf it is a squeeze bulb horn, or a mechanical horn, your best bet is to go to the internet and look at pictures of really old cars (1930 and back), to see if you can match it up to what you see on other old timers.
If it is an electrical horn, the first thing to find out is what voltage it is supposed to operate on. This may be stamped on the case somewhere, or if not, you can try the horn on 6 volts (that won't hurt it if it is supposed to be used on 12 volts). If it sounds really feeble, then try it on 12 volts. If that makes it sound right, you've at least narrowed down the year of the vehicle. Generally, 12 volts indicates a car that was built after 1955, although there are some exceptions - including foreign cars.
Beyond that, I don't have any suggestions other than to attend some car shows and compare what you have with what you see on other cars.
Generally, horns that are brass are from the very early days (1900 to 1915 or so), if they are chrome plated they are from a later car, because they were displayed out front. If it is painted plain black, it was probably under the hood. If it has a long straight trumpet, it is probably from the 30s, and could be from a truck. If it has a coiled type sound passage out to the bell, it is probably later, but most US cars used horns from the same vendor (Sparton), so they all look pretty much the same regardless of which car they came from. Fords used Autolite horns in the later years (60s and up).
Without knowing more about it, I can't tell you much more.
Dick
