32 chief horn

[cscott]

I have a 32 indian chief and the horn on this has a crimped on face not screwed on, is this an old repro or did indian ever do this? thanks chris

[tfburke3]

Hey Chris.I can only say that my 34 chief has a crimped on face and the bike was very original when I got it.The repros have some different spacing of feathers and width of feathers from what I have read.
Tom

[bstevens479]

the old parts book showed a different part number for 1931- 1933 made by Motovox crimped face. bolt on face 1934- 1940 Autolite

[cscott]

thanks I thought it was original , glad to hear it...

[gharper]

Indeed, the 31-33 horns did have a rolled face on them. The overall thickness of these horns is considerably less that the later ones that can be disassembled. They are hard to find and usually they don't work! Stupid idea, because after a few years of wet climate the thing may need to be cleaned or adjusted and there is no way to do that without taking it apart, so they get thrown away and replaced with the later model that can be disassembled. For the 31 Chief, Scout and 4, you must have this style horn to fit under the headlight. The later style is thicker and the horn won't clear the headlight bezel clamp and screw.

I managed to restore one for my 31 Chief, not an easy feat.. I made a small tool to fit under the brass rim and very carefully unfolded the rolled edge. The Indian face cover is stamped out of thin brass and it's very delicate. Once off, the whole thing falls apart, only the brass cover holds it all together. After repairing the guts I carefully straightened the edge on a wooden dolly and annealed it, then sent it off for a very thin chrome plating. I made a wooden bowl to hold the assembly in the lathe and a bracket on the back side so the tail stock held it all together. Using soft wooden rollers, I carefully rolled the brass edge on again. Had to do a slight bit of peening on the edge at the very end to get it tight.

[tfburke3]

I havent had my horn apart,but the face is crimped to a plate with filister screws ,maybe
#12 size,holding the assembly together.It looks like it would come apart for servicing the contacts and coil pretty easy.
Tom

[bstevens479]

I have played with several of 31-33 both times dirty points, cleaned & still work today