Help id a gahooga horn

[Tjm5432]

Can you id the make and year of a gahooga horn?  There is not any serial numbers or words anywhere.

[TTR]

What is "gahooga" and what is the purpose of using horn(s) on it ?

[CHuDWah]

Looks like Model A.  Ford did not make horns - contracted them from outside suppliers.  This may help:

 

https://modelagarage.com/service_bulletin/make-of-horn/

 

BTW, the horn is upside down in your picture.  When it's mounted, the seam should be down - the small hole is a drain.

[Tjm5432]

1 hour ago, CHuDWah said:

Looks like Model A.  Ford did not make horns - contracted them from outside suppliers.  This may help:

 

https://modelagarage.com/service_bulletin/make-of-horn/

 

BTW, the horn is upside down in your picture.  When it's mounted, the seam should be down - the small hole is a drain.

Awesome and thanks

[zepher]

And it's missing the cap that goes over the motor portion of the horn.

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by zepher (see edit history)

[capngrog]

That horn is similar to one that I have which is a "Klaxon"™, manufactured by Remy Electric Co. of Anderson, Indiana.  As I recall ( my recall isn't as reliable as it used to be) the "Klaxon" horn was originally manufactured in New Jersey, around 1910.  The original manufacturer merged with, or was absorbed by Remy Electric Company, which became (through a merger) Delco-Remy around 1925 or so.  The Delco-Remy "Klaxon" remained in production for many years and was produced in both electrically and hand-driven forms. 

 

As zepher pointed out above, it appears your horn is missing its housing or "cap".  Except for the data plate riveted to the housing of my horn, the horn itself is unmarked, so I'm not sure how you would be able to definitely identify your horn without a housing.  Regardless of who manufactured your horn, they are pretty cool and make quite a racket.  Does yours work?

 

My horn is 6V, but I've operated it a few times using a 12V battery.  I need to provide some sort of resistor to drop voltage from 12V to 6V.   I've considered using a ballast resistor, except that a ballast resistor isn't designed to handle much in the way of amperage.  Anyone on this forum have suggestions?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Tjm5432]

6 minutes ago, capngrog said:

That horn is similar to one that I have which is a "Klaxon"™, manufactured by Remy Electric Co. of Anderson, Indiana.  As I recall ( my recall isn't as reliable as it used to be) the "Klaxon" horn was originally manufactured in New Jersey, around 1910.  The original manufacturer merged with, or was absorbed by Remy Electric Company, which became (through a merger) Delco-Remy around 1925 or so.  The Delco-Remy "Klaxon" remained in production for many years and was produced in both electrically and hand-driven forms. 

 

As zepher pointed out above, it appears your horn is missing its housing or "cap".  Except for the data plate riveted to the housing of my horn, the horn itself is unmarked, so I'm not sure how you would be able to definitely identify your horn without a housing.  Regardless of who manufactured your horn, they are pretty cool and make quite a racket.  Does yours work?

 

My horn is 6V, but I've operated it a few times using a 12V battery.  I need to provide some sort of resistor to drop voltage from 12V to 6V.   I've considered using a ballast resistor, except that a ballast resistor isn't designed to handle much in the way of amperage.  Anyone on this forum have suggestions?

 

Cheers,

Grog

It belongs to a friend of mine, and he says it works.  I want to hear it, ive never heard one.  Thats a ton of info, thankyou very much.  Can i contact you if i have more questions?

[CHuDWah]

26 minutes ago, Tjm5432 said:

Awesome and thanks

 

No problem.  Forgot to mention some makes are more rare than others and therefore may be worth more.  Unfortunately I can't recall which.  I think Sparton is more common but you may want to research if you're selling it.

 

9 minutes ago, zepher said:

And it's missing the cap that goes over the motor portion of the horn.

 

Yup, and that's a whole other ID problem:

 

https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/Resources/en/ItemDocuments/A_13809_AR/ModelAHornCoverChart-6998.pdf

[Tjm5432]

24 minutes ago, zepher said:

And it's missing the cap that goes over the motor portion of the horn.

 

Thanks

[capngrog]

3 minutes ago, Tjm5432 said:

It belongs to a friend of mine, and he says it works.  I want to hear it, ive never heard one.  Thats a ton of info, thankyou very much.  Can i contact you if i have more questions?

 

Sure, feel free to contact me via the Private Message feature of this forum.  If you send me a PM, just let me know in this thread (I check the threads out several times per day, but often fail to notice that I've received a PM).

 

With that said, I think it is informative to post discussions on a thread instead of  via PM.  I also should mention that my knowledge of the horn doesn't go much beyond what I included in my above post.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Tjm5432]

3 minutes ago, capngrog said:

 

Sure, feel free to contact me via the Private Message feature of this forum.  If you send me a PM, just let me know in this thread (I check the threads out several times per day, but often fail to notice that I've received a PM).

 

With that said, I think it is informative to post discussions on a thread instead of  via PM.  I also should mention that my knowledge of the horn doesn't go much beyond what I included in my above post.

 

Cheers,

Grog

Ok and thanks

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I never heard the word "gahooga" and was curious to see if "gahooga" would yield any results on Google. "Gahooga", just like "Ah-ooga", apparently is simply an interpretation of the sound that the horn makes. How that sound is made is mildly interesting:

 

People also ask

How does an Ahooga horn work?

The klaxon horn's characteristic sound is produced by a spring-steel diaphragm with a rivet in the center that is repeatedly struck by the teeth of a rotating cogwheel. The diaphragm is attached to a horn that acts as an acoustic transformer and controls the direction of the sound.

 

Vehicle horn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Vehicle_horn

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Vehicle_horn

 

 

Search for: How does an Ahooga horn work?

[Tjm5432]

25 minutes ago, Hudsy Wudsy said:

I never heard the word "gahooga" and was curious to see if "gahooga" would yield any results on Google. "Gahooga", just like "Ah-ooga", apparently is simply an interpretation of the sound that the horn makes. How that sound is made is mildly interesting:

 

People also ask

How does an Ahooga horn work?

The klaxon horn's characteristic sound is produced by a spring-steel diaphragm with a rivet in the center that is repeatedly struck by the teeth of a rotating cogwheel. The diaphragm is attached to a horn that acts as an acoustic transformer and controls the direction of the sound.

 

Vehicle horn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Vehicle_horn

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Vehicle_horn

 

 

Search for: How does an Ahooga horn work?

Thanks

[46 woodie]

Although it is a Model A horn, without the motor cover it will be hard to identify it exactly. There were 5 different suppliers of Ford horns, Sparton, Ames, Stewart-Warner, E.A. and G.I.M. As chudwah illustrates, all the motor covers were different and had the motor data plate and date code/patent plate riveted to the missing cover. Sparton and Stewart Warner were the most produced and used from mid to late '28 to the end of production. It was about simple as could be, as others have stated, the motor had a serrated, what they called a "ratchet" that simply rubbed on a nub on the diaphragm when the motor turned. The screw on the back of the horn is the adjustment screw.

[Tjm5432]

51 minutes ago, 46 woodie said:

Although it is a Model A horn, without the motor cover it will be hard to identify it exactly. There were 5 different suppliers of Ford horns, Sparton, Ames, Stewart-Warner, E.A. and G.I.M. As chudwah illustrates, all the motor covers were different and had the motor data plate and date code/patent plate riveted to the missing cover. Sparton and Stewart Warner were the most produced and used from mid to late '28 to the end of production. It was about simple as could be, as others have stated, the motor had a serrated, what they called a "ratchet" that simply rubbed on a nub on the diaphragm when the motor turned. The screw on the back of the horn is the adjustment screw.

Thaks for your help

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Sparton horns, a manufacturer listed above, rang a bell, so I did a little Google-ing and found that they were made by the Sparks-Withington Co. I recognized that company name because I knew it to be a radio manufacturer. So, yes, Sparton horns and Sparton radios were made by the same company. Far more than you could ever want to know about same:

https://marcspartonhornregion.weebly.com/

 

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/SILNMAHTL_21448

 

http://www.tuberadioland.com/spartonmain.html

 

https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=3407

[Tjm5432]

11 hours ago, Hudsy Wudsy said:

Sparton horns, a manufacturer listed above, rang a bell, so I did a little Google-ing and found that they were made by the Sparks-Withington Co. I recognized that company name because I knew it to be a radio manufacturer. So, yes, Sparton horns and Sparton radios were made by the same company. Far more than you could ever want to know about same:

https://marcspartonhornregion.weebly.com/

 

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/SILNMAHTL_21448

 

http://www.tuberadioland.com/spartonmain.html

 

https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=3407

Thanks for your help

[46 woodie]

By the way tjm, if your friend wants to restore and make the horn complete, Bratton's Antique Auto Parts, www.brattons.com,  has everything he needs. 

[Tjm5432]

41 minutes ago, 46 woodie said:

By the way tjm, if your friend wants to restore and make the horn complete, Bratton's Antique Auto Parts, www.brattons.com,  has everything he needs. 

Awesome ill let him know.  Thanks ill check it out

[CHuDWah]

On 5/27/2020 at 7:09 PM, 46 woodie said:

Although it is a Model A horn, without the motor cover it will be hard to identify it exactly. There were 5 different suppliers of Ford horns, Sparton, Ames, Stewart-Warner, E.A. and G.I.M. As chudwah illustrates, all the motor covers were different and had the motor data plate and date code/patent plate riveted to the missing cover. Sparton and Stewart Warner were the most produced and used from mid to late '28 to the end of production. It was about simple as could be, as others have stated, the motor had a serrated, what they called a "ratchet" that simply rubbed on a nub on the diaphragm when the motor turned. The screw on the back of the horn is the adjustment screw.

 

 

The makes of early horns (to mid-28 or so) can be identified because the motors are different.  One of the differences is the placement of the adjustment and cover mounting screws.  Because of that, covers will not interchange between different makes of those horns.  Later ones were standardized.  Covers for those have different stampings and attachments but they will interchange among makes.  I don't know if the whole motor was standardized or just the placement of the screws.

[jpage]

If it's a Stewart Warner horn , it will have no riveted plate. Stewart Warner will be stamped in script on the front face of the bolt flange. They are almost identical to the Sparton. Clean the flange to see if the name is there. It's not embossed very heavily.

[Tjm5432]

15 hours ago, jpage said:

If it's a Stewart Warner horn , it will have no riveted plate. Stewart Warner will be stamped in script on the front face of the bolt flange. They are almost identical to the Sparton. Clean the flange to see if the name is there. It's not embossed very heavily.

Thanks ill let him know