Loud as Hell(a)
I made a couple of updates to the MGB today and then took her for a drive.
It was a beautiful, warm afternoon and I needed to get away from my desk for an hour. So, I decided to replace the horns on Pearline. Like many LBCs, her horns were somewhat weak and didn’t get other drivers’ attention. I’d been reading about Hella brand horns for some time and ordered a set for Pearline.
Hella Horns are made in Germany and have nothing to do with California surfer talk. There are several models available with different volumes. I went with the SuperTone model for Pearline. It’s a loud, piercing sound, as you can hear…
I started the upgrade by removing the front grill so that I could get to the screws holding the horns in. While I had the grill off, I decided to clean, tape off, and paint the grill.
Side Note: This is what my wife and I always referred to as “Painting the Sistine Chapel”. We’d start a project, and then realize that we needed to do more, while we were at it and the next thing you know, 12 years later, you’ve painted the Sistine Chapel.
Once I’d put a coat of Rustoleum on the grill, I sat it on some bricks to dry. Then, onto the horns.
Getting the horns off required a Phillips screwdriver and a 7/16 socket up inside the fender. Once the old horns were removed, I created a splitter harness, as explained by Gary E in this useful post on MGEXP.com. The passenger side had 2 purple wires that went to one post, while the other post had a purple striped wire and a black wire. The driver side would just hook up directly. There did not seem to be a “positive” and “negative” orientation, although the replacement horn spades were labeled “1” and “2”.
The Hella horns only have one bolt-hole on the support rod, so I bolted them down into the existing holes and kept the extra bolts for that time in life when I’ll need an extra galvanized bolt with a matching nut. Don’t laugh, that day will come.
The last upgrade was replacing the worn-out pulls inside the doors. Took about 10 minutes to put these on after removing the old ones.
Minor Rant: I don’t know why Moss Motors doesn’t put the screws in the package with small parts like this. It’s not going to break the bank if they put a couple of $0.02 screws with the right threads in the pack.
Afterward, Angie and I drove Pearline down Route 66 a ways, just to make sure the horns were noticeable over the roar of the exhausts. They are, which is a minor miracle because the new straight pipes are l-o-u-d. I’m thinking to clean her up this weekend and take a bunch of beauty shots for the photo gallery.
