air horn a MB option or was it added?

[floyd111]

Btw I've been in hospital 4 days to have 2 kidney tumors removed on right side, all went well and hope to go home tomorrow.

Off-topic still.. With the average age of the average W116 owner, I bet there's more then a few members here that are dealing with first-time medical scares already. Squiggle might not count.   He's had years to get used to his malaise.
Me, 6 months now, in and out of clinics every week, with a rare vasculitis inside my skull that's been causing strokes. The bag of pills they offer to keep me stable looks like Ray Kurzweil's breakfast.
Are you done now with the tumor thing, Rumb? Or is there an after-treatment required?

[nathan]

I would be extremely surprised if original or a factory option.  the bolts are incorrect type and not coated.  the mount is not body colour and the wiring is not MB with crimped plastic connectors.  horns are normally mounted into a forward open position, not angled towards the read of the headlight (although im sure they are plenty loud!).  be careful if looking for a fanfare switch, the pic Floyd put up is from a 126 as the switch is vertically positioned, whereas in a 116 (as in Max' pic), it is horizontally mounted with the label the other way!

[Jed]

Rumb,
Glad to hear  you're on the mend. Get well!

# 484 has air horns that are similar to the red ones in the picture but actually chrome plated plastic mounted to the dash switch shown in the above picture.  all the wiring appears to be factory but this is an early car with some weird options in it. My 1979 also has airhorns that are blue as described above utilizing a chrome toggle switch  that was mounted below the steering column close to the hood release also as described above. I would think that these are dealer optional items on the later models and possibly factory on the early model but this is nothing more than speculation on my part based on the wiring connectors quality etc.

[Squiggle Dog]

With a switch which should look like this :

Hey! In that picture, the slider bezels are reversed--the right side one is on the left, and the left one is on the right. The "hot" symbols should be on the outside, and the arrows should be on the inside. I bet that car gave some troubles after it rolled off the assembly line.

[Squiggle Dog]

Btw I've been in hospital 4 days to have 2 kidney tumors removed on right side, all went well and hope to go home tomarrow.

Thank goodness you're okay, rumb!

I might have one of those fanfare horn switches somewhere, most likely in the early style (up to 1978?) with the sharp edges.

[Peter]

Hope you are feeling better Rumb, and a speedy (6.9 type) recovery to you.

[Type17]

"Temporary windscreen"?

In the 70's, most windscreens (windshields) were tempered, rather than laminated, so a stone-chip meant total shattering of the windscreen (opaque "sugar crystals"). When this happened, a temporary windscreen (often sold at filling stations) meant you could continue your journey without being assaulted by storm-force winds (ever stick your head out the window at highway speeds?). A "family history" story from my parents goes that this happened to the family car when I was a baby in a cot on the rear seat, and no temporary windscreen was available (night-time, rural area), so the journey was completed at low speeds with my mother wiping the snow(!) out of my dad's eyes...


Best wishes to Rumb for a good recovery 

[ptashek]

Speedy recovery rumb!

As for the switches, I think I have a proper W116 one, but I'm keeping it for the same reason - I'm going to wire those highway bad boys in some day.
The way I plan on doing it is fused (25A) direct battery hookup for the two sets of horns (standard + highway), with a SPST relay controlled by the dash switch.
If energised it'll power the highway horns, otherwise it's the measly meep-meep factory ones.

[Squiggle Dog]

In the 70's, most windscreens (windshields) were tempered, rather than laminated, so a stone-chip meant total shattering of the windscreen (opaque "sugar crystals"). When this happened, a temporary windscreen (often sold at filling stations) meant you could continue your journey without being assaulted by storm-force winds (ever stick your head out the window at highway speeds?). A "family history" story from my parents goes that this happened to the family car when I was a baby in a cot on the rear seat, and no temporary windscreen was available (night-time, rural area), so the journey was completed at low speeds with my mother wiping the snow(!) out of my dad's eyes...

Strange, cars in the USA have been mandated to have laminated windshields since 1937. I had no idea other countries were still using tempered windshields as recently as the 1970s! Then the temporary windscreen makes sense. I thought it was maybe a protective device if a person knew they were going to encounter rocks being flung.

[Type17]

...I had no idea other countries were still using tempered windshields as recently as the 1970s! Then the temporary windscreen makes sense. I thought it was maybe a protective device if a person knew they were going to encounter rocks being flung.

We actually had a Toyota from '81 which had a factory-fitted tempered windscreen, although it was one of the last ones I saw (you can see the toughened central area when the sun hits it at the right angle). It's illegal to supply or fit them these days.
They were annoying, with the risk of shattering, and dangerous - serious facial injuries were possible at low speeds if you didn't wear your seatbelt (mashing your head down through the sugar crystals at an acute angle  )

[TJ 450]

I've never seen a non laminated windscreen, I doubt it would pass any regulations here in Australia unless on a proper vintage car.

Tim