Will do! Thanks for your input. I'll probably order two, with the hope of getting one installed on each side. If not, I can put them on my wife's car with no problems...

I have an email into Hella about the ones mentioned above:



I want to find-out if they can tolerate water, given the placement I'm considering. Even these would be tricky to fit as they are about 5" in diameter, and 3.5" thick. I would lose the red, and go with black, or even body color possibly...

Edit/Add - dB measurements can be misleading for sure. Luckily they all seem to use dBa, but the distance is not always mentioned. For the Stebel unit (the one for which I started this thread), it's 139 dB, but that's at 4". At 2 meters, it's 115. Most seem to provide info at 2 meters. For the Hellas (photo above), they are rated at 113 dB, at 6.5', which is essentially 2 meters.

 

Yes I looked there - it would be blocking a large chunk of radiator surface, plus be sandwitched bewtween the cover and fins, plus have no solid support for mounting without a big custom bracket. It could have been done but wasn't worth it to me.

 

I hear ya... the effort just might not be worth it. If the Hellas can handle the elements, I'll get those, and one of the Stebels with the understanding that my wife's car will probably be its home...

 

Just to follow-up, here's what I got back from Hella:

Tony -

They are not weatherproof, as most horns are not. They should be fine though. That's where I have them mounted on my car, actually.

- Jack
=============

I found some nice photos of the Stebel Nautilus with a ruler which really helps in my ablility to see if this is feasible for the MINI...

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade...tprint/2137/81
I just ordered it, and will give it a shot, maybe this weekend, assuming I get it by then... I think my wife is secretly hoping I won't put forth the effort and time to make this work on the MINI

 

With that size I think I could find at least 2 places to mount. I am going to order one this week....

 

Ideally, it shouldn't be burried somewhere that muffles the sound though. Having the source (horns) facing forward, unobstructed is what I want, and it will take some creativty to do that...

 

Just to correct what I said above, the horn apparently should not face forward. From that link:

Per the manufacturer, this horn should be mounted so that the cylinder is vertical (with the horn facing down). There should be no more than a 15 degree variance from the vertical position. If it is not mounted per these specifications, then the horn may cease to function after a period of time.

I'm guessing that this is due to water getting inside... This limits the install even more...

 

TONY B,

JUST INSTALLED STEBEL NAUTILUS HORN IN MY 04 MCS, IN THE CAVITY BELOW PASSENGERS WINDSHIELD VENT. JUST ABOVE ABS UNIT. VERY LITTLE VOLUME LOST TO THE OUTSIDE AND NOT MUCH REACHES THE INTERIOR.
MOUNTED DIRECTLY TO PANEL BEHIND ENGINE COMPARTMENT. HOT WIRED TO BATTERY WITH RELAY WIRED TO ORIGANAL HORN CIRCUIT, YES I KEPT STOCK HORNS HOOKED UP.
SOUNDS GREAT, MAKES THE MINI SOUND 5X LARGER
JEFF EVENS

 

Jeff, thanks for sharing, and congrats on decibel increase! Mine is sitting here in box... taking a back seat to some performance stuff I'm working on. If unable to locate a place in the front of the car, I'll try the cowl area. Have a photo to show? So, it souds like you wired it up such that it blasts with your normal MINI horns simulataenously. Cool.

 

Hi Tony,

No Pic's Yet. I'am Not Very Savy On Sending Pic's From Digital Camera Thru E-mail, I'll Work On That Soon.
Regards, Jeff

 

I replaced my horn with this one.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

jeffreyevens, thank you, and I uderstand. Not sure if I'll do the cowl area, but I'll keep it mind now... Can you explain where, or at what point you tapped into the horn circuit for the relay? Thanks much.

 

Hi Tony, I Tapped Into Horn Circuit Wiring At The Passengers Side Horn,easy To Get To And Work With.

Regard, Jeff

 

Thank you Jeff. I plan to make time for this mod sometime after Thanksgiving. My first attempt will be to place it toward the front, but if that proves too difficult, I'll do as you did. Thanks again.

 

Hi Tony, Good Luck Finding A Place Somewhere Up Front, I Think I Tried Every Possable Spot ?? It Almost Fit To The Left/and Forward Of The Trans On The Lower Frame Rail But It Pushed Inner Fender Liner Out Enough To Restrict Wheel Travel When Turning. There Doesn't Seem To Be A Spot Large Enough In The Bumper Frame/cover Area. If You Don't Have Headlight Washers It Will Just Fit Behind Body Panel In Front Of Drivers Door,but I Thought It Was Too Loud Inside The Car! I Had This Thought Also,if You Look At The Horn Assembly Closly,the Pump Can Be Seperated From The Trumpet, Maybe Mounting These Peices Apart And Running A Hose Between Them Might Work,makes The Unit A Little Smaller.
Well, Have Fun With All Your Mod's,let Me Know How Make Out.

Happy Motoring, Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff. I actually did remove my headlight washers a couple months back (thread here somewhere), but as you said, not I'm not sure if I'll want to utilize that spot...

Bright idea on separating the pump, and using a hose! This of course would make for some type of delay, but maybe not that bad. I too will check around the wheel well areas, and contemplate some trimming of the liners. I still have some hope in the lower front grill area, even with minimal grinding to get the needed clearance, and surface for a good mount.

Bigger fish to fry at the moment though . I will indeed report back. Thanks again.

 

Well, I did some scouting today and found a couple areas of interest. First, after I remove the AC system, the lower grill will very much be a reality. I will actually use two units, when that time comes . FWIW, my MCS will be strictly a Fall/Winter ride in the future, so losing the AC, and its 23 pounds is no biggie...

For now though, I think I will put it on the driver side, near the headlight assembly. As mentioned, with the washer unit gone, there is some room, but not much. I however just axed my intake system due to a project I'm working-on, and with the HAI in place of it, there is even more room in this area to position this baby! I could easily place it where the stock intake box was located, but that's further back though...

Jeff, quick question for you... Per the directions (that little slip of paper), there are several ways to hook-up this horn, depending of some vairables. I have no plans to use this with the stock horns, but I'm not sure if our horn buttons have a ground or hot lead wired to them. I have a Bentley manual, but it's currently in a box at work (changing positions). Drat... Please share. Thanks.

 

Jeff, did you by any chance remove or bypass the stock horn relay? It appears from the Bentley manual that there's a horn relay, referred to as K2...

To clarify your set-up... You added this horn in addition to the MINI's two horns, and they are all activated via the horn buttons on the steering wheel, right? I'm contemplaing losing the stock horns, and replacing it with this one... which you might have done, but I'm not sure...

Thanks.

 

TonyB, the stock horn buttons ground the relay(K2). I left the stock horns and circuit alone. just added the airhorn to the circuit, using it's own relay. now when you hit the horn button both stock horns and the airhorn sound Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff for confirming that the stock horn buttons ground the K2 relay. I have the wiring all worked-out now. I'm going to patch into the existing horn wiring to operate this horn's relay, and run a separate hot to power this horn. I'll put a 20A fuse in this new line.

I got some 16g wire and an in-line fuse holder at a local autoparts store yesterday. However, after fabricating a bracket today, and after mounting it, the hood didn't quite close. Drat! I'll get back at it later, probably next weekend... Randy Webb is in town this weekend, so I'll have no time tomorrow to finish this up. I also might remove my wheel well liners, and that should expose some more possibilities...

Thanks for your feedback, and I'll report back when I have this thing installed...

 

Any updates yet??
I just mocked up a box the size of the Nautilus and duct taped it in several places under bonnet for clearence, no go. Cowl area on left or someplace I haven't found yet underneath, will try tomorrow.

 

Hi Norm!

If you have an HAI, I've found that it can be positioned/orientated in that area adjacent to it. The caveat is that if you have Xenon lights, namely the washers, it would be a no go (I've removed my washers). I however did not mount the horn there, altough I'm fairly certain that I could given some successful attempts at openning and closing the hood/bonnet...

I will be ditching my A/C, and once that is accomplished, the horn should fit nicely back behind the lower grille. I would ideally like to run two of these bad boys down there...

I'm not sure when I'll actually lose the A/C, but once I do, I'll gladly report back! FWIW, my MCS will be strictly a Fall/Winter ride, so the A/C surgery will not be missed... minus the weight .

 

Tony,
Two would be killer for sure If I didn't have the washers I know it would fit there on either side. I'm going to drop the tray under the bumper cover in the morning and have a look.
My intake is in the way but I see what you mean if I were running an HAI.
OT. Okay I 'm curious if your not driving the MINI in summer ( I just couldn't do that) what will it be then??

 

Norm, the MINI will be my FWD Fall/Winter commuter and fun car. It does exceptionally well here in the canyon, esp during these cooler days .

For the Spring/Summer, I want RWD, and a convertible. I just sold my latest ragtop (Manx dune buggy) this past Summer... Before that a '73 914 (2 liter), and before that a Ghia, also '73. I figure that I'll go a couple of years until I get something. Gives me time to decide, and to save-up, plus complete my garage (haven't started yet!). And for what you ask? Well, as it stands now, either one of these:

Caterham 7

or

Ariel Atom

If you are unaware of the Atom, you are not alone. You can find a decent thread here on NAM...

Ok, back on topic! Regarding this horn... Let us know how things look for space from below...

 

Found a place, they are definitely louder than just the OEM horns which I retained.