Hella Air Horns Installed...

["Matt Cleland" <cleland@stlnet.com>]

I managed to get the Hella Air Horns installed yesterday, without too
much trouble.

Like a couple of you said, I mounted them on the drivers side, below the
battery.  Actually, the horns proper are kind of inside the bumper cover,
pointing down while the compressor is installed from the top, directly in
front of the battery.

The kit does not come with any wire, connectors or inline fuse, so there
were some additional pieces I had to buy to get the installation completed.
The hardest thing to find was a inline fuse that was rated at 30A.  The only
"pre-made" fuse holders with that rating that I could find were gold-plated
show pieces for car stereo, costing upwards of $20. I ended up getting some
parts from the 'Shack and building my own.

I used 10 Gauge wire to route power directly from the battery, thru the fuse
and relay to the compressor.  Everything connects up nicely with standard
crimp-on lugs.  I mounted the relay on the driver's side inner fender, using
an existing screw that was holding on relay #111 (don't know what that's
for).

To pick up the horn button, I went to the passenger side where the factory
horns are located.  I pulled the connectors from both factory horns, and
used standard crimp-on lugs to attach directly to the horn wiring connector.
On *my* car (yours may be different) the horn gets constant +12V when the
ignition is on, and the horn button switches the ground.  I ran the wiring
for this up and around the rear perimeter of the engine compartment and down
to the relay.  There may be a closer place to pick it up, but this was
definitely easy and I'll be able to remember where it is if it fails.

For me, the only hard part was that where I fastened the horn brackets and
the compressor, it was almost impossible to get a wrench on the back.   It
*may* make more sense to use some kind of nutsert if you have access to
them.

In the end, all I can say is "wow!".  People will definitely notice if I
blast them with this thing.  For the first test, I had it in the garage, and
there were about 6 kids outside in the street playing (about 200 feet away,
no line of sight).  I gave it two short bursts, and two of the smaller kids
started crying.  I think it's loud enough :-)

If anybody is looking for these horns, IMPARTS in St. Louis has a pretty
good deal on them.  1-800-325-9043.  Ask for Larry, and tell him Matt sent
you.  They also have a good catalog of stuff, including lots of car care
supplies, RedLine oil, tools, etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Cleland					cleland@stlnet.com
98 Jetta GLX
Black/Biber