Fulvia Horn Relay

[Parisien]

Oh dear.......hope you get well really soon........we are terribly fragile creatures......humans and machinery don't mix too well


P

[Jai Sharma]

Ouch.

 I've heard it might be possible that some people might have liability cover via their household insurance.

[Richard Fridd]

Good thinking, there are many perils covered by household insurance of course. A friend of mine once made a claim which resulted from a fight with his brother at his own wedding and a damaged wedding cake!

[ColinMarr]

Thanks again chaps, When I can I'll give you an account of the day (which was not without involvement with Lancia) and how it happened. Right now I am still laughing at Richard's story!

Colin

[rogerelias]

Oops, sorry to hear that Colin

[Dilambdaman]

All the best Colin. Speedy recovery.

Robin.

[ColinMarr]

I am now back into writing mode and can tell the tale – the story might be called “two days, two Lancias and a bike crash”.

It started with me enjoying checking over my Fulvia on Wednesday 17 April to take part in the Phoenix Inn Lambda gathering the following day – the first real outing for my Zagato this year. All went well - the Phoenix meeting and lunch were great. It really is a privilege for me and my car to take part in these events – extraordinary cars and extraordinary people. Although most of the return journey was in torrential rain the 120 mile round trip was a delight - although I was a bit miffed that the radio seemed to have stopped working. As I put the Fulvia back into its lock-up that evening a neighbour told me that the horns had sounded out of my locked up garage for an hour or so the previous evening! I apologised, tried the horn and it was dead – hence my investigation of horn relay and the post which started this thread.

On the Friday I decided not to bother with the Fulvia problem and to leave that to later. It was a fine afternoon and having just recovered from a bad back problem I thought the smart thing to do was to cycle over to the Turner house in Hackney to work out what to do with their Augusta which was up on axle-stands after John had ceased to work on it last summer. The weather had been too cold for me to contemplate this over the past few months. The Augusta was up in the air to help diagnose a suspected broken front-spring that was a cause of worry, but not a serious one as the car was drivable up to that time, even if a bit clonky.

I put the wheels back on the Augusta, observing the left-hand threaded Rudge-hub nuts on the off-side, and using John’s small trolley jack and his wooden blocks (just as primitive and precarious as mine!) I gently lowered the car to the ground. I expected to have to put the battery on charge, but connecting up the battery terminals showed lots of energy in the spot light that inadvertently had been knocked on. It’s about 50 years since I have started an Augusta from cold so I had to work it out – like which is the push-pull control for the petrol tap, the lever for the choke (not to be confused with the lever for the radiator blinds) and as I remembered the starter button is foot operated way up to the left. The ignition key is just as an Aprilia so that was easy. All set and with stab at the starter button and the kick from the battery’s 12 volts (saved from last year) into the six volt starter motor, there was a bark and a bang and then it ran as sweetly as if it had run yesterday. I warmed it up in the garage and ran it up and down just to check the brakes weren’t binding and decided to call it a day. The following week was going to be put some air in the tyres and run it around a bit. The idea is that Christine and at least one of John’s daughters will use it.

Cycling back home to Muswell Hill was really enjoyable in late afternoon sun with a good sense of satisfaction – Fulvia, Augusta and a healthy back. And then crossing the Seven Sisters Road on a green light for cyclists I was hit hard on my left by another cyclist jumping a red light. The result being that more than two weeks on I am still recovering from a smashed collar bone which now has a four-inch steel plate, seven screws, a ‘button’ and plastic tie-ropes to hold it all together. The bruises below the shoulder that show the print of his helmet are still evident. The police haven’t yet filed their report on the incident and when they do, I hope to take action against the offender, whoever he is.

Meanwhile, my one-armed partial recovery has enabled me to investigate the Fulvia. The horn-button circuit seems fine and I think the cause of the problem was a failure in the horn-relay which decided on its own to lock on, this caused the horns to run until one (the lower tone one) decided to short circuit, which tripped the fuse that is shares with the radio. All of which sounds simple to fix, but the horns on my car are buried below the air-box, hidden by my electric fuel pump and pipes and of course it’s all below the hinge on the blind-side of my sideways opening bonnet. Such fun!

Anyway, it looks doable and I have sourced a modern relay that should do the job. My handicap is that I am working one handed and will be unable to drive for another four weeks!

I now know how it must feel to be a one-legged man in an ar*e-kicking competition!

Colin

[Parisien]

Quite a story Colin, doesn't it always happen when you're doing someone a good turn!

No fun at all, hope you could sleep at night and are now on the road to a full recovery.

As the stats show, the most dangerous place to cross a road is a zebra crossing and or other pedestrian crossing points. Even when driving I look both ways at traffic lights and indeed every other place where somebody may or may not do the wrong thing....other people....huh?!

Take it easy,

P

[davidwheeler]

I believe there is still the offence of "riding a bicycle furiously".  Would seem to fit the bill  (him, not you!)

[ColinMarr]

I now have a shoulder that is still mending but I have made some one-armed progress on my horn problem. Tackling the fuse box is possible using both feet to cradle it while working one-handed. Taking off the horns is easy if you undo the nuts and let them fall to the ground softened by cardboard. Refitting the one working horn was possible by placing it under the car tied with a length of string placed up on the subframe – then working at full stretch from the top pulling the string up and wiggling it until the horn stud locates in the mounting hole, wedging it in place with a strip of wood while at full stretch and one-handed fiddling the star washer and 13mm nut onto the stud proved to be just possible to do!

With the old and suspect relay still in place I decided to connect up the battery and try it – and to my surprise it works! So, what went wrong is still a mystery. The fuse must have failed at the point that one of the horns that had been running for about one hour decided to go short-circuit. But what was holding the horns on during that time? The horn-button circuit seems fine and the relay is still functioning. I will just run it as it is until it fails again and hopefully then find the cause. And I suppose I should disconnect the battery overnight.

Meanwhile, I don’t want to be one-horned or one-armed for much longer even if I can’t yet drive the car. I could fit a pair of air-horns and go “peep-peep” or I could search for a low pitched original type horn to go with my existing one to restore it to a more sonorous “hoot-hoot”. If there is anybody out there who has a low pitched one they might be prepared to part with, I would be pleased to hear from them.

Also meanwhile – thanks to all my well-wishers. There is now a police report on my accident and there is a slim yet real chance of some legal action against the culprit. I wish.

Colin   

[DavidLaver]

It all sounds a bit "ice cold in Alex".  Well done!!  Hope your back is ok with all the contortions...

An idea for the battery is a motorsport type isolator switch tucked under the dash.  Its an extra level of security as much as reducing the fire risk, hassle of a flat battery, and offending the neighbours however sonorous the classic Italian horns are.

I'm also fond of a hidden fuel pump switch.  I love the idea of someone getting it going with a hotwire and so on, feeling really chuffed but then only getting 50m down the road before running out of fuel, patience, time and face.  Anyone seen Pixar's "Cars"?  McQueen makes a run for it on a drained tank.

David

[ColinMarr]

I have been able to resume driving for the last ten days, which is a huge relief and I think it’s possible to sound a final note (ha ha!) on my horn saga. The truth is it’s still a mystery, but I have given up trying to find the original cause of one horn burning out and the fuse blowing. It’s all back together and working well, and the single ‘high’ horn has a pleasing pure tone which isn’t objectionable. And it worked well for the MOT test earlier this week. The only unfortunate thing about the test was the realisation that I had done less than 1000 miles in the previous twelve months, but then every one of them was a good experience.

Toot-toot,

Colin

[Richard Fridd]

Quite right, every Lancia mile is not just a drive but an experience. Glad you are back on the road Colin