Lucas 9H horn restoration

Last week I removed the front grill, because I wanted to inspect the panels, searching for rust or other problems.

After not finding any special problems, I thought the horn would benefit from some TLC, so I removed it along with its brackets.

The horn is an original Lucas 9H model, fitted in most British cars of the 60’s. It was in working condition. Half of the horn is made out of steel, and the other half is dye cast. Of course the steel part had rust, and paint on the cast side was horrible.

9H horns are difficult to open, as they have steel rivets, so they are not very user friendly…. As it was in working condition, I did not want to mess and try to open it, just some new paint would do the job.

I fitted a cap at the horn trumpet so when I cleaned the unit, nothing should get inside.

I have received several comments on why I am so excited with my new sand blast machine, from people that have never seen one in action…. So I took the opportunity, to make a video of the machine in action, where you can see how fast is to work with the sand blast, and specially, how easy it is…. It only took me 5 minutes to clean the horn, with a surface finish that no other mechanical procedure will make: wire wheel angel grinder, hand sanding, etc…

Hope you like the video

Just a quick note, I needed some normal paint brushes to apply paint to mechanical parts, because I wanted to use the sponge brushes for parts where I needed a perfect finish. I found some very cheap brushes, that had nylon or plastic threads, and at 0.60 eur wanted to give a try. I used it for the horn, and it really gives a much better result and finish than normal brushes. See the end of the video for a quick impression.

Just another weekend project!