TOPIC: horn question...and a couple others.

I'm in the mood and the mode, so I'm gonna keep squeezin' info out of you guys. This site is a gold mine for guys like me and I want to say thanks in advance and sorry for any lame questions. I've spent hours going back and reading the forum discussions. Great reading.

So... after I stripped all the hardware off my deck prepping for some sanding/varnishing, I noticed that my horn (which has never worked) used to have some sort of air canister attached to the bottom of it. Is this some kind of antiquated system or can these canisters still be found somewhere? It'd be cool to have a working horn and not just my handheld.

Also, can my bow light be rechromed? It seems to have a chrome finish...but has a plasticky sound when I flick it. How about that tab that separates the green/red lens? That really seem plastic in nature. Even though we don't have a chromer in town, I've decided to send a few pieces out that really could use rechroming before it goes back on. That reminds me. Brian, if you still have those Crosby step pad surrounds, I will take them off your hands. I've seen a lot of surrounds, but it's always 2 or 3. I want 4 all the same size and model. So I'll send those out with my other pieces as well. Pete at Wefco has a 3" rubber extrusion that can be cut to fit the surrounds.
thanks

...forgot...here's a pic of the horn where the canister threads into under the deck.

Brian

Brian,
There's never a lame question here. We've all been there, heck I'm still there! LOL Always learning. I'm not familiar enough with your bow light to say one way or the other. Maybe Crosbyboat (Brian) can jump in here when he reads it. If it's all metal then yeah it can be re-chromed. I suppose plastic can be re-chromed but not sure how. I would think that a boat of that age would not have plastic chromed anything.

I believe your horn is an air horn and unfortunately I'm nor real familiar with them either. John Gibson has had quite a lot of experience with these I believe.

Bob

Here's another pic of the complete horn assembly. A piece of wire is attached to that black trigger. You pull the knob on the dash, it pulls the trigger, and it releases the pressure from the can to the horn.

Just bought a Tollycraft runabout with a very similiar horn.
It has a can of Freon (the little ones you use to recharge air conditioning) screwed to it. Also a little wire running to the knob in the dash.
Neil

Thanks Neil. Any idea where those can be purchased? Home Depot? Lowes? Or a more specialized place?

Brian

Your best bet might be garage sales. I don't think you can buy them any more at stores because of the ozone, ect. I have a '93 Chevy Silverado and I think that is one of the last years that they used Freon in the air conditioning. You can't refill newer ones without all of the equipment for recovery of gases, ect. A few years ago I found a refill kit at a garage sale with 2 cans of Freon for about $5.00, and no I don't think I could part with them. On my boat I have a horn that used to use Freon, but I just use an air tank and refill it with my compressor. It works great and turns alot of heads. It might be worth a try.
Bill

Bill and Neil,

Thanks for your input. Believe it or not, there is a boat load of NOS 12oz freon cans available on Ebay. I can't tell if the top is threaded though. They all have a cover on it. Do you happen to know if there is a threaded part under the cap? I have no experience with them. I tried to download a pic and transfer it over here for you to look at, but it wouldn't let me. If you get a chance to check them out, just typed "freon can" in the ebay search box.

Brian

I just saw them this last weekend at Walmart.

As an option - you can buy a cheap ($25) set of air horns with the compressor, throw the cheap plastic horns away and hook the compressor up to your vintage horn. Three wires (hot and ground, switch) and you never have to worry about it again. Could be mounted out of sight, nobody would ever know. Credit to John Gibson for this idea, he's the one that passed it on to me.

Mark,
Thanks for posting that. I knew someone had a fix for that, thought it was John but couldn't remember what he did.

Bob

Thanks,
That sounds better than dealing with freon cans

Brian

Back 35 years ago, the compressor cam with chrome metal horns. I had a set on my Falls Flyer for years. They worked well. The compressor lasted about 25 years.