308 QV Horn Compressor maintenance

It is a PITA to remove.

However, if you just locate the air intake slot in the cover, & squirt a light oil like air tool oil, or a light machine oil like 3-in-1 into the opening while someone is blowing the horn, it'll do a pretty good job of lubricating it.

There are a couple of different mounts. If I remember correctly, I had to pull the louvers behind the headlights to access the mounting bolt before I could remove mine. The horn sat over a plate with a threaded hole. The plate clamped the horn against the bulkhead via a bolt thru the bulkhead.

This old Fchat thread should help, luckily the pictures survived:
Fun rebuilding horns and seats...

http://70.85.40.84/~ferrari/discus/messages/256120/278100.html

BTW, there are a lot more service tips/procedures in the Old Fchat Archives, well worth the effort to search them.

 

Jan,
Why are you attempting to rebuild the horn compressor? Is is seized for sure? The reason I ask is because the horn gets power via two different fuses. One fuse runs the relay that clicks on when you push the horn button. That relay then directs current from another fuse to the horn itself. So you can be sitting in the car, push the horn button, hear the relay click, and assume that the horn is therefore busted somehow. In fact it STILL may not be getting power. You should put a voltmeter on the horn itself and then have someone push the horn button and see what's going on. The horn is fed by one of the fuses on the right side of the right fuseblock. This is a known trouble area on 308 fuseblocks because that is one of the fuses that frequently stops working in a fuseblock meltdown.

I had this very issue with my horn and was in fact the first symptom I had that my fuseblocks were melted when I first got the car.

Birdman

 

I thought mine was seized but it just needed lube.

 

Mine did not have a nipple as well

When I pressed the horn, all I got was a "click" from the relay.

I undid the 3 screws and pulled the cover off. I was bone dry. I added some oil and sealed it up and pressed the horn and boy oh boy was it loud!

 

The picture is a Birdman's '77 compressor. The newer ones don't have the lube nipple.

Thought my horn was working reasonably well until I cleaned & lubed it. Made the mistake of having someone press the horn button to test it while I was standing in front of the car in my garage. My ears rang for half an hour!

 

The Fiaam (whatever) horn is the same as I put in my car. $17. Why rebuild it??

Ken

 

Last time I saw a new Fiaam compressor, it was all plastic.

The old ones are nice metal castings. They don't need rebuilding, just degreasing to remove any dried up lubricant, and a shot of fresh oil annually.

 

I lubed mine by taking off the top and dropping some 3 in 1 oil in and it made a big difference. Went from no horn (just compressor sound) to hearing a decent honk. Its not ear splitting tho like some have reported. I’d like to try degreasing it. How do you recommend doing that?

Are people getting a super loud sound from the plastic horn? I might try and find the metal horns.

The compressor on my 79 was reasonably easy to get to. There’s not much clearance for a box wrench to rotate from the top but if the wrench is below the compressor, there’s a decent range of motion.

 

IF you pull the compressor blades, Put them back in the EXACT SAME location and orientation.

I was told years ago it DOES Matter, much like bearing caps on a cam.

Not as expensive to fix though.

 

After replacing the snail horn with trumpets, way louder now.

 

The plastic horns are just as loud as the metal ones. If yours are not, it is either an issue with the air compressor not pushing enough air, not enough voltage to the compressor, or the horns are dirty or slightly plugged up. You can also get a completely new set with plastic horns from Fiamm, Hella or Stebel for around $50, includes compressor and hoses. Check around online