BANTAM HORN (Dick Beagle)

The horn button confuses all. This is why I included a sketch in the shop manual. Here goes again. This is easy when seen in person or a sketch. All seem to want to complicate what is a very simple thing. The wire goes from top to bottom of the steering column and through the insulator which on Bantam is a fiber bushing. The wire end has a rivet crimped onto it. The button is kept away from the rivet by the coil spring ( A/B part # 1232) Neither Norm nor I have any of these left. You might ask Lynn James. The spring is a small coil spring 5/8" diameter at the inside of the coil. The spring has 2-1/2 coils and is wound from #18 (.0403) brass wire. When the button is depressed contact is made between the rivet with hot lead attached and the nut which is attached to the shaft end, grounding and completing the circuit. Replacement horns were, like the shop manual, offered for over two years and now exhausted and wont be replenished for lack of interest. You relay your steering column does not have a hole in the bottom. Either you are looking in the wrong place or have a non Bantam steering which I doubt. The hole is prominent and surrounded with a small lip, located in dead center of the steering box bottom end. All Bantams have the starter hole in the firewall. IF your car had the hand brake mounted under the dash the cable goes through the same hole. Obviously your car must have the pull up floor mounted brake handle. The only variation on horn buttons is that 1940 models have the button painted vermilion, all others and Austin are black. The brass disc makes the contact between the hot wire and ground. You are working too hard to complicate a very simple thing.

If you are using a Lynn James reproduction steering wheel the clearance between button and rivet is reduced. Though slightly this greatly encumbers "adjusting" the rivet height. The result of this is the horn will blow when you turn the steering wheel, or if too low wont work. Since the insulator is a drive in part you are in for a guessing game to ascertain proper height. If the insulator is too low you need destroy it and begin anew. When you are SURE you've the right positioning you may want to glue the rivet in place being sure to not insulate it from the circuit. If the rivet is too small (it will be as you cant find the right size. In fact it is hard to find rivets period in this age when "hardware" stores want to sell washers, refrigerators, drapes and carpeting but not HARDWARE.) the wire will creep up the column and cause the horn to continue blowing till you remove the horn button. This is why many are removed. People also stripped the threads or broke the retaining ring also leading to absence of the button. The boogie man of using glue is each time the wheel is turned the wire is twisted. Twisting will work the wire loose from the rivet and or cause breakage. That is why they were left loose, and allowed to turn in the insulator. Had Bantam been concerned they could have added a retaining clip at the column bottom BUT this would risk damage to the wire and horn shorting out.

The horn on standard Bantam models mounts to the right hand 3/8" hole on part # 3674 front cross brace assembly. The other 3/8" hole located 5 1/2" to the left is for a second horn used only on deluxe models.

Sparing you the next inevitable question...........The horn is attached to the cross brace by a "U" shaped bracket with 3/8" hole on one leg and another bracket which matches the horn hole pattern and has two spring steel wafers spaced with bushings. The screws (or rivets (depends on horn model) (Bantam used four horn models I know of all similar) go through the bushings and this assembly allows the horn to move as a ridged mount would allow it to shake and break the bracket.