air horn a MB option or was it added?

[raueda1]

My question of the hour:  My 6.9 has an air horn with brackets etc that look very official and factory installed.  As the picture suggests, they've been there a long time.  They aren't connected now but they're extremely loud when powered up.  While searching around I saw that some later Benz's had a switch to toggle between the regular horns and optional "fanfare" horns. 

Was this kind of thing ever a W116 option at some point?  And if so was there a separate switch or did they just connect to regular horns as a supplement?  Any background would be great.  I'll be hooking them regardless of their origins.  Thanks my friends!

[floyd111]

As a fanatic "option" collector, I have not seen anything like it on a W116. MB had the 2-tone fanfare, as well as the super loud country horn, with a separate on-switch in the dash.
I can't tell if it's an MB part from another car, but I very much doubt it. There would be a number on it somewhere, and somehow I don't think it would have been in blue plastic.
Just my 2 cents.

[raueda1]

Knowing your rather unique devotion to options, that 2 cents is worth a lot!  I wouldn't have thought they could be OE or even MB parts at all, except the mounting hardware is so good.  I've never seen any kind of generic aftermarket kit with anything like it - angles are all perfect, it's extremely strong and really quite over engineered.  Somebody went to a lot of trouble for such a trivial thing. 

BTW Floyd111, what's the export story from Taiwan?  Can parts be reasonably sent by post to other countries?  I recall that you've collected quite a stock of stuff.  Cheers,

[Max-NL]

http://oudemercedesbrochures.nl/Zubehor_Accessoiries_ca1973engels.html the 8th image. It seems like air horn was a dealer installed option. Funny though our 6.9 also had air horns, the second owner had it installed.

[raueda1]

http://oudemercedesbrochures.nl/Zubehor_Accessoiries_ca1973engels.html the 8th image. It seems like air horn was a dealer installed option.

Wow!  An amazing collection of stuff.  I bet that's it  What remains of wiring stuff is all old-school euro too, not USA.  Now if I ever sell the car I can add "Extremely rare dealer-installed air horn" to the car description.  That ought to add at least $5000 to the car price, LOL.  Great find, thanks!

[Squiggle Dog]

http://oudemercedesbrochures.nl/Zubehor_Accessoiries_ca1973engels.html the 8th image. It seems like air horn was a dealer installed option. Funny though our 6.9 also had air horns, the second owner had it installed.

"Temporary windscreen"?

[floyd111]

Great brochure, btw. Had not seen that one before.
But, this is a a temporary brochure with list of dealer options, with most listed items taken from the pre 1972-era, actually not belonging to the W116 showroom.
Most of the stuff you see in this brochure pre-1972.
You find the same brochure logic when you check out 1979 and 1980 option  booklets, and the same issues. Completely identical covers at times. Options that are portrayed as standard W126, but was just a brief carry-over from the W116 era, after which W126 received  it's own assortment.
The car care Kit.. definitely not a W116 showroom item.
The vacuum cleaner f.e. After 1972, in Germany, the very same vacuum was sold, but in red/black, and now built for the lighter socket, not for the battery poles.
More confusion to add.. The booklet is MB UK. They may not have carried all the official German showroom stuff, and probably had the distributor-liberty to source locally.

Last but not least, there are members here that have that country horn.. They should be able to confirm it's the same thing, and in blue -not red.
The W116 claxons I know are circular, like UFO's, and there's little waldhorns. Unaware of the trumpet version, but sure to want to find out exactly.
If it's just a dealer-option, with no MB number, and no identical pics in official brochures, and maybe not even a Hella or Bosch, You may have to delay that Christie's Auction for a bit.
Are these blue ones FIAMMS, perhaps? But, they are normally red as well.

[raueda1]

Maybe there was some obscure horn color option code that we've yet to discover.  What's crazy is the mounting hardware.  It's all welded and formed out of ~3mm thick steel, angles are all perfect despite being mounted on curved surfaces.

Good thing this board doesn't have an "Option Police" subforum like over at the M100 site.  They'd kick me out for sure. 

[floyd111]

BTW Floyd111, what's the export story from Taiwan?  Can parts be reasonably sent by post to other countries?  I recall that you've collected quite a stock of stuff.  Cheers,

Yeah, shipping is pretty cheap, but I am nowhere near selling stocks as of yet. I am yet to move all the cars and all the goods to the north of the country to the new workshop, after which there'll be a stock take.
In second hand parts, it's be market overkill. I think every part will be available in qty of 4. But, since I will not be near my cars, it would be the mechanic that does the work. If he chooses to.
In NOS and new parts, I still want to hold on to every part x2. Some items are rare enough I might not sell even if I had too many of them.
It is possible I will give up on my second restoration, depending on the results of the first one.
If that happens, there's be enough on offer to employ someone to run the eBay shop.
For now, none of this is of any good to you, is what I am saying, and with my track record, I am clearly a follower of the Musk-ian principle. Hope for speed, aim for speed, settle for getting there in the end.

[floyd111]

Does it at least have this button in the dash>?

[Max-NL]

The country horns aren't air powered, they are electrical, which should look like this:


With a switch which should look like this :


Don't know how it's hooked up on raueda1's car, but on ours the air horn was hooked to the normal horn system via a relay and a toggle switch to (de)activate it.

[raueda1]

Mine did NOT have the dash switch.  Now, of course, I'm desperate for that switch! (Anybody?  hint hint)

But it does have something else.  There's an old euro-style DPST toggle switch installed inside the duct feeding the driver's door, i.e., switch and wires are inside the vent with toggle protruding above the hood release.  Wiring goes out the firewall but not connected to anything.  No way to know if was dealer-installed or a DIY job.  Also no way to know if it was intended for the horns or something else.

Regardless, my thought was simply to wire it as Max-NL describes but using the exisiting switch.  I'll put wires in the console while it's apart in case I manage to get the rare horn switch!

[rumb]

Both of my cars came with fanfare horns but I think both were added later. One had the Italian air horns, the other had added wiring but poorly installed and missing both horns.  I believe I have a spare switch.  There are 2 styles one is for later cars.

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.

Search forum we've mentioned these a lot including various mounting methods. The fanfare are a lot louder than the other and the rocker switch should be at top of center console.

[floyd111]

That switch does come up on offer regularly on eBay and such. But, best searched in any ebay that isn't ebay.com, like eBay.de..
I paid 25 euros last time around.
I recall threads here about it, and I am not sure the wiring job is that easy. Should it not go through the fuse box, with it's own channel? Not my field. Someone here will know.

[raueda1]

Both of my cars came with fanfare horns but I think both were added later. One had the Italian air horns, the other had added wiring but poorly installed and missing both horns.  I believe I have a spare switch.  There are 2 styles one is for later cars.

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.

Search forum we've mentioned these a lot including various mounting methods. The fanfare are a lot louder than the other and the rocker switch should be at top of center console.

OMG!  Feel better!  I can relate.  I actually bought my car in the aftermath of what at first looked like a certain-death cancer diagnosis.  So, I figured, get the car you always wanted and enjoy it while you can.  Why not?  After 9 months the cancer story had a happy ending and here I am worrying about horn switches and headlight washers.  Glad things went well for you!  Life is short, let's all enjoy it while we're able.  Carpe diem!