1956 horn location

[ron56]

Does anyone have a picture or drawing of how/where the horns are mounted in a 1956? For some reason my horns are mounted under the hood on the inside fender wells. One on each side. I've had the car for 3 years now and it was just a while back that I noticed pictures of other cars without the horn under the hood. Not sure why anyone wanted to move them. I have the restoration manual but I didn't find any info on where the horns are mounted. I've gone to a few car shows but haven't yet seen another early bird.

 

[55blacktie]

It's been awhile, but they go between the grill and radiator, and I think they attach to the radiator support. It could be that they were relocated when the aftermarket aluminum radiator was installed.

 

[radar]

On the Thunderbird, the horns are mounted on the radiator side air deflector. They may be removed through an access hole at the center of the lower air deflector.
Page 139
1955 Ford Car Shop Manual

 

[radar]

It also occurs to me that there is a right and a left horn . One is a higher tone and the other is lower, and they can be tuned by turning a screw to change their pitch.

 

[doug7740]

The horns are located behind the grill in front of the radiator. The bolt that attaches the horn to the front panel is located next to the triangular cutout under the hood. The horn is removed from underneath after you remove the access hole cover in the lower radiator deflector.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Matt Moore]

You may find, as I did, that the bouncing and vibration from driving on rough roads caused fatigue fractures in the sheet metal where the horn originally attached. I was able to make heavier gauge metal backings and keep the horns in their proper location.

 

[ron56]

After a little detective work I think I now understand where the horn is mounted. First off the picture marked 105 I believe is missed marked. What is marked as the horn mounting bolt is not. It is the radiator mounting bolt, one of the horn mounting bolts is shown just below the wire harness were it goes through the rubber grommet. The other issue that confused me was my current mounting bracket is straight and not bent to what looks like a 90 deg bend, as shown in a catalog. I couldn't see how the horns could clear the stone guard. With the 90 deg bend they will. Point of interest: one of our suppliers list the bracket at $30. and a couple of others have them at $6.
The mystery to me is why someone went to the trouble to relocate the horns in the first place. The sheet metal where the horns should be mounted appears sound no cracks. Where they mounted them to the inter fender has cracked so I had to make up a backing plate. The fact that the fender is cracked would suggest they were moved some time ago. When I bought the car at auction I was told the car had been stored for over 25 years. I've attached a picture of what I'm now guessing is the true mounting location of the horns. The two holes just below the grommet.
These cars are a little like adopting a shelter dog, you spend the rest of it's life wondering what happen in it's prior life.

 

[Ward 57]

Welcome to the journey. I've had my car for over 45yrs and was about 20yrs old when I bought it. At that time it was just considered an 'old car' and no attention to detail or the eventual value. Not much more I've found that was messed with other than what I did when young & dumb.

 

[doug7740]

After a little detective work I think I now understand where the horn is mounted. First off the picture marked 105 I believe is missed marked. What is marked as the horn mounting bolt is not. It is the radiator mounting bolt, one of the horn mounting bolts is shown just below the wire harness were it goes through the rubber grommet. The other issue that confused me was my current mounting bracket is straight and not bent to what looks like a 90 deg bend, as shown in a catalog. I couldn't see how the horns could clear the stone guard. With the 90 deg bend they will. Point of interest: one of our suppliers list the bracket at $30. and a couple of others have them at $6.
The mystery to me is why someone went to the trouble to relocate the horns in the first place. The sheet metal where the horns should be mounted appears sound no cracks. Where they mounted them to the inter fender has cracked so I had to make up a backing plate. The fact that the fender is cracked would suggest they were moved some time ago. When I bought the car at auction I was told the car had been stored for over 25 years. I've attached a picture of what I'm now guessing is the true mounting location of the horns. The two holes just below the grommet.
These cars are a little like adopting a shelter dog, you spend the rest of it's life wondering what happen in it's prior life. View attachment 21395

Ron56,

You are correct, I'm sorry for not paying more attention when I labeled the bolt in picture 105.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[ron56]

Following up on my fender mounted horns:
After receiving the new mounting bracket and proceeding to move the horns to the front side of the radiator. Stock position. I discovered why the horns were moved in the first place. When I bought my car it had a older AC system, which I removed. As I was mounting the horns I could see what would have been a interference issue with the horns and the AC condenser. That is why the horns were moved. Mystery solved.