Horn Mis-fortune

[kbinde2]

I either turned the clapper nut the wrong way.. or, it was too tight and just failed.! I know a rebuild is in the future, but is the motor not useable now that no threaded end exists for the clapper mount.? Are these motor parts available.?

[holdover]

I have fixed one broken just like yours. What I did is assembled it and very carefully aligned the sprocket with spacers on the shaft and MIG welded it (TIG would have been better but I don't have one), been over a year and still OK. At first I thought I would face the shaft off in my lathe, drill and thread a hole, place a threaded insert locked with locktite and go from there, then I decided all I have to lose is the ratchet, so I welded it

[Bill G]

Hey, I did exactly the same thing. The nut is a reverse thread nut, and the shaft is just weak enough that it will twist right off. At least by your picture, you have a stub to work with. With mine, it was right down to the point that the tip was pretty much sheared off the end of the armature shaft. In other words almost flush at the tip. A friend with some decent tools helped me out. First, we filed the remaining stub off so that the end of the armature shaft was perfectly flat. Tapped it with a center punch and drilled it down with a drill press and tapped it for a #8-32 screw. Although the original was a reverse thread, all I had was a standard direction screw and tap, so that's what we used.

Re-assembled it using some nail polish on the threads and a small lock washer to help hold it in place since this was not a reverse thread. The important thing is to have it exactly flat. Adjustment was a little dicey since the top to bottom position of the ratchet has now changed in relation to the tip of the diaphragm. Also, on mine there is a little wobble to it which makes for a unique oogah sound, but for me its better for now than nothing at all.

Since this was only a week or so ago that it was done, I don't know how long it will hold with the lack of a reverse thread.

At least for now it works and that beats the cost of a replacement horn.

I called Bert's and he said that he is trying to gather up enough of these to send off to someone who does the repairs with an actual reverse thread post, but based on the numbers he gave me in terms of how many he has and how many he needs to be able to have it done for a reasonable price, it may be many months before he can get enough to make it worth while.

So, at least now my oogah is working, but for how long is anyone's guess. I am not saying this is the way anyone else should fix the problem, but it is the way I did it.

[1931 flamingo]

Contact A&L, they make the repro horns and may have what you need. No website, phone only.
Paul in CT

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by 1931 flamingo

Contact A&L, they make the repro horns and may have what you need. No website, phone only.
Paul in CT

BTW, their horns are truly a work of art.

[700rpm]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

This kind of trouble is what makes owning (and reading) Andrews's book and the RG & JS so important.

[MikeK]

If you have a lathe and skill you can face the end, drill a hole in it and internally tap. Then use a button head Allen screw to hold the wave disk.

[SeaSlugs]

yea one of the few left hand threads on an A. I think the face, drill, and tap is the solution.

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

This kind of trouble is what makes owning (and reading) Andrews's book and the RG & JS so important.

Yup.

Found it there after the damage was done when I went looking for a way to accomplish damage control. Too late by then!

[denniskliesen]

What size is that thread? I was at one of my local hardware stores and oticed one of their trays had LH thread screws.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

If threads protrude PAST a nut, you can usually STARE at it & figure out if it's a L/H thread or not.
Bill Goggles

[Ray in La Mesa]

The Stewart Warner horn has left hand threads in the armature for the ratchet screw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All other makes of "A" horns have right hand threads. Hope this bit of info helps prevent future problems. I have drilled & tapped a few SW's with right hand threads to repair torqued off screws and then used JB Weld to keep it fixed. No type of Locktite will hold the ratchet screw.

[Fullraceflathead]

You could drill and tap it for a stud.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by CarlG

BTW, their horns are truly a work of art.

A&L's Sparton horns that is and a big YES I second that. We're running one and it sounds better than any original I ever had. Good, strong, aHOOga can't be beat.