Air horns

[Andrew]

link

[Wuey]

Come on Andrew! Aren't you going to blow your own trumpet this time? Show us what you have!

I installed a pair of made in Italy Narva air horns in \"parallel\" with the stock feeble meep-meep horn. They are from K-mart for $25. Cheap as chips. This way, the stock horn will still sound if the air-horns go \"pfffffff\" as they can be temperamental in cold weather. The oil in poor quality or poorly installed or maintained air horns can freeze up and bind the rotors, but mine has never given me any trouble so far. Installing the horn motor in the warm engine bay helps.

The air-horn relay that feeds the motor is connected using a thick 12-gauge wire with an inline 30A fuse tapped directly onto the main 12V bus under the main fuse box in the engine bay.

The relay can be triggered using the spare unused horn wire in the NA. This ensures both sets of horns are trigged at the same time. The stock horn will usually sound a split second before the air horns. Warning: If you wire the relay that connects to the 12V terminal of the air horn motor using the stock horn wire, you are likely to keep blowing the 20A fuse if you step on the brake pedal while using the horn at the same time. The stock horn shares the same circuit as the stop lights. Besides, the stock horn wire is too thin as the main 12V feed to the air horn motor. This wire is only good for triggering the relay.

There is plenty of room in the NA engine bay for the horns and the motor near the air-filter and its intake. Try to heat shrink or tape the main wire at critical areas to prevent short-circuit.

My horns can wake up the deaths in a graveyard. Andrew's trumpets will make them scramble back into the graves.

[Andrew]

Come on Andrew! Aren't you going to blow your own trumpet this time? Show us what you have!

My setup looks like this -




and sounds something like these when connected

[MasterZ]

watch this vid on the site that Andrew posted
http://www.hornblasters.com/video.php?pic=42

[Alf]

Also check out this thread

I recommend the genuine Stebel Nautilus air horn, fits like a charm in place of one of the existing horns even on the SE with its intercoolerette.

Cheers,
Alf

[JBT]

Now you see them.........................




Now you don't

[pcmx5]

c'mon fellas....... nothing too loud and big

i would prefer something hidden away and doesn't play nursery rhymes

thanks for ideas though

I have"Crazy Reds "airhorns bought from him in America(he is on the Marketplace at Miatanet).

Easy to fit , good sound, no trouble in 3 years.

I do have socks over the trumpets to stop junk getting up them as they are mounted low.

Peter.

[ampz]

watch this vid on the site

I Can't believe they blasted a policeman!

ROFLMHO

[Andrew]

Make sure you get the 'compact' Nautilus think it would fit better in the OEM space rather than the standard one.

[Andrew]

I blew a 10amp fuse with my Nautilus the other day...lucky it was on the additional relay circut i'd installed....so i read the instructions and it required a 20amp fuse

BTW Auto Barn (in Frankston) stock them. $48.99 for the standard and $59.99 for the compact.

[Andrew]

Or if you're not from the southern suburbs, East Coast Auto Spares in North Road, East Bentleigh. $47.50 for the standard ones (in the cardboard box), and $54.99 for the compact (in the blister pack).

Thats where i purchased mine from

Andrew, where did you take the power from for the horns? I'm still finding may way around under the bonnet of an MX-5.

Give me a minute and i'll go and take some pics for you.

[Andrew]

Ok here goes -

Power comes from the fuse box under the bonnet, the black wire in the middle of the picture -



...it then runs through an inline fuse (not picuured) that i blew and onto the relay -



I used the trigger from the OEM horn to switch the relay and provide power to the new horns along with an earth.

The horn in then tucked up infront of the radiator using a custom bracket -

[Alf]

Andrew, where did you take the power from for the horns? I'm still finding may way around under the bonnet of an MX-5.

Don't have Andrew's phot skills, but I took mine from the original electrical horn wiring (as recommended by Thompson in their MX-5 kit (which cost way more than $55 but included a bit of bent metal). This meant replacing the existing (15A, I think) fuse with a 20A one. No new wiring had to be done. Everything works as expected. The original horn circuit already has a relay.

Cheers,
Alf

[Andrew]

Okay, that's interesting. I can't say the gauge of the standard wire fills me with confidence though -- the Nautilus air horns draw 18 amps. Might give it a try.

I didnt want to risk blowing the one fuse that has the horn and brake lights on the same circuit (i think) so i installed the relay.

I still have to figure out which bolts get the front bumper off to mount the horns.

Don't think there's a need to remove the front bumper, the thought didnt cross my mind when installing mine.

There is no way I can figure to replace the standard horns without doing so; underneath they are just barely visible through the grill, only the bottom parts. From the top, can't see 'em at all, with that aluminium cover which links the front bumper and the radiator in the way. I'd need fingers like E-T the extraterrestrial, and X-ray vision, to accomplish the task otherwise.

My horn is mounted in the OEM position, you can see this in the third pic on the previous page. You can also see a pit more of my custom bracked in this image. If you want i could remove the horn and snap another pic of the complete assembly for you.

Yes I could bolt them in the engine bay;

Been there done that - link

but there should be space behind the bumper and if that's where the originals are then that's where this one goes. Can't see where the wire plugs into the originals anyway...

Yes, i know there is space for the 'compact' not to sure about the standed Nautilus though.

Where abouts in Melbourne are you located

[Andrew]

Mines a 98 and yes i installed mine with plate and bumper attached.