Moss Air Horns

[fasterbyelan]

Hi,

Does anyone have a photo showing the installed position of the original Moss Air Horns fitted to the Elan (S4 circa. 1970). Relay, compressor and horn position are all required.

Thanks,

[saildrive2001]

I could be wrong but I don't think that air horns were a factory spec. item. My 69 S4 SE came with twin electric horns mounted in the nose either side & just infront of the steering rack. Like a lot of people in the UK I replaced them with a set of Fiamm air horns. The compressor is mounted on the front of the left side rad blanking plate, the relay on the inner fender & the horns on the right front behind the air filter. I can take some photos & post them if you need.

[oldelanman]

Mine are installed pretty much the same as Keith's - no idea if original or not but they were on the car when I got it back in '74.

[Jeff@Jae]

When I was the new car prep guy (and used car refurbish er) at a Lotus/TVR/MG/Triumph dealer in Long Island, NY. during the S4 Elan/+2/Europa era we always installed air horns in every new Lotus as a safety item (and no option add on).

[gearbox]

According to the Lotus factory parts manual, the air horns are a factory optional part (#19). My 69 and 70 S4 has them and they are attached in the same manner as oldelanman's picture. Most of the Elan's I've seen had them as well. I would have to believe this was a factory installed part unless all the dealers installed them as a matter of course. Then again, I understand these cars all left the factory without outside rear view mirrors and it was said the dealers either installed the Sebring, Tex, or what ever mirror they had as well. But it makes you wonder, if it was a dealer installed item, why is it that all the horns were the same type and all installed identically by every dealer? Maybe it was one of those regulatory things and the factory made the dealers do it for cars destined for certain countries? Allan

Horns.jpg (18.69 KiB) Viewed 1423 times

[Pistacchio sprint 72]

To oldelanman:Your engine bay seems brand new!

[oldelanman]

To oldelanman:Your engine bay seems brand new!

Thanks for the compliment.........only took 5 years !

[gjz30075]

Jeff, did all cars come with electric horns? If so, did you un-install them or simply moved the wiring over to the compressor and relay?

Greg Z

[gearbox]

Jeff, did all cars come with electric horns? If so, did you un-install them or simply moved the wiring over to the compressor and relay?

Greg Z

Greg, for what it's worth, both my cars came equipt with both air horns and standard horns and both worked in unison.

[69S4]

My 69SE had a really useless set of air horns fitted when I bought it at 12yrs old . Similar set up to Roger's picture but the trumpets were mounted much further forward near the air filter. They hardly worked and after a few attempts to fix them they were even worse . I changed them for a set of Fiamm electric horns which are still on the car now

[trw99]

I would have to believe this was a factory installed part unless all the dealers installed them as a matter of course. Then again, I understand these cars all left the factory without outside rear view mirrors and it was said the dealers either installed the Sebring, Tex, or what ever mirror they had as well. But it makes you wonder, if it was a dealer installed item, why is it that all the horns were the same type and all installed identically by every dealer? Maybe it was one of those regulatory things and the factory made the dealers do it for cars destined for certain countries? Allan

Horns.jpg

Air horns were a factory fitted option from, I think, the S3 onwards, certainly in the UK. Most car manufacturers of the 1960s left the choice and fitment of outside mirrors to the dealer. I can recall that some people had one mirror, some had two; some had them mounted on the doors, others had them mounted on the wings near the front of the car. In fact, back then cars tended to have few factory options, but many dealer 'extras'. Mud flaps were popular, outside sun visors over the front windscreen, heated rear window pads, even seat belts.

Tim

[fasterbyelan]

Thanks for all your replies and sorry for my delayed response.

The picture above is similar to the layout I remember my car having with the exception of the horns, these being bolted to the brackets the standard electric horns were fitted to. When I bought the car back in 1984 the original Moss horns/compressor were fitted but as the compressor was worn out, a second set of air horns had been fitted. I removed the older set and disposed of them (in hindsight a bit of a schoolboy error!). I didn?t take any photos of the engine bay at the time so have no reference but the photo above has jogged my memory sufficiently. Anyway, as a kit car the absolute position of the air horns would probably have been left to the individual owner/builder (particularly the horns!). For originality, the correct type is of primary importance.

With the mention of availability from the factory of air horns, I can confirm that they were listed as an optional extra on a price list I have dated 1 June 1971. The code for the air horns is, or was, 77B and the price - ?7.50. This option was the same for both the Elan and the Europa. There is no option shown for the +2 130S but a quick check of the +2 manual shows that they were original fit (or at least for the later models!).

Thanks once again, all I need to do now is to find a set of working horns!