Todd,
Spartan or Autolite are both correct for 1958 Plymouths. They would usually
be a matched set, not one of each. It might happen that a mixed set would
be found when supplies of horns were low from one supplier and a new batch
was delivered from another supplier. This happened with the headlights.
General Electric bulbs are correct on 1950's Mopars. Occasionally, you will
find Tung Sol bulbs on the high beam only. Depends on who was supplying the
bulbs at the time your car was made.
Your horn problem is caused by a stray ground getting to the negative
terminal of one of the horns. This could be in the wire to the horns. Most
likely it is in the horn itself. I had a self tooting horn. To find the
tooter, unplug the right horn then connect the power. If the left one
toots, the problem is there, if not the right one is the tooter. Look at
the shell on the back of the horn. Sometimes the tarpaper insulator will
deteriorate and let the shell rotate and touch one of the terminals.
Negative annoying, positive dangerous short. If it is not touching, the
short is internal. The shell is held on by tabs that were mashed onto the
horn part. If a check with an ohmmeter shows a ground between the negative
terminal and the shell, the wiring in the horn is grounded. Pry the tabs
back, pull off the back, and look for a bare spot on the ground wire.
Insulate it and try it out. You will have to make a new insulator for the
contacts out of tarpaper if yours is bad. On a rare occasion, the wire in
the column or the insulator in the top of the column will go to ground. If
you check between the ground at the horn and the frame with an ohmmeter and
there is no ground until you push the horn ring, then the horn is suspect.
Another problem that will drive you crazy is when the horn honks when you
turn the steering wheel, but that is another story. Hope this wordy
explanation will help.
Larry Stanley peerless@xxxxxxxxxxx
----------
> From: Todd St.Clair <tstclr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [FWDLK] Horn woes
> Date: Tuesday, August 18, 1998 9:14 AM
>
> I'm still having problems getting a decent pair of horns for my 58
Plymouth. The
> ones I have work, but somehow have grounded to the case-causing them to
go off
> as soon as the positive wire is attached. Does anyone know how these
horns were
> insulated from ground?
> Thanks
> Todd
>
>
>
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