Albert here, once again bringing you the latest news from The Old Sidevalve Bar. Let me just say, this blog is guaranteed secure. Wrapped in a Faraday Cage which thus protects these very words from being copied, pasted then leaked thru' WhatsApped by Isabel Oakeshott to The Daily Telegraph for the tittilation of the Frothy Costa Coffee and choccie cookie couch club . Phew, that's alright then......at least it leaves more space for shitte about Harry getting the boot from Frogmore.
Don't cry-ee, don't sigh-eeThere's a silver lining in the sky-ee!Bonsoir old Harry, cheerio, chin-chinNah-poo, toodle-oo, gingy whingy, goodbye-ee!!!!
It just wouldn't be right to put a chinese peeep peeeeper on Lovely Maroon would it? Nay and thrice nay I hear you cry. Tha's needs ta' get a proper barping tool. Well, let me tell you if you've never entered the 'World of old Horn Blowers' ya' need to be travelling with some coinage. But hang on!! what price do ya' put on a nice clear defined Baaarp Baaaarp as you give a motorcyclist salute to the passing AA man?? Well, hopefully every time I push my original 1956 handlebar button I shall be overcome with a cacophony of musical goodness. In perfect E major fortissimo. For this to indeed happen I've purchased (through the usual on line auction site) a Lucas Type HF 1440. Manufactured after 1953. HF standing for High Frequency!!! Stand back and cover ya lugs!
As usual...things aren't quite as 'simples' as they could be. My horn was bought 'untested'. (note in defence -a new Dong-guan copy would have been twice the price and still wouldn't have worked) Phufff!!.... like the seller never stuck a battery across it...but hey, I know the sales pitch. Call it' Not Working'. What can possibly go wrong..I knocked him down £4 and became it's new owner. Correct...on arrival it didn't barp..not even a small burp or petite womanly trump......
At first glance I thought the green paint might have meant a military background, maybe seen a bit of Suez action? or done duty at The Bay of Pigs....but it proved not so as the coating didn't go underneath the outer band. Getting inside to see if the coil was still in one piece was the first step. Difficult, the front didn't unscrew enough to lift away and the risk of pulling and breaking delicate internals meant care and mucho thinking before doing anything was vital.
Lucky old Albert....the screws that hold the contact breaker assembly (which mates internally with the armature sleeve) eventually gave in the struggle against a well aimed flame from Big Bertha (the workshop flame thrower). which was aided by a rather large screwdriver. Rather than front off it was the unsuspecting attack at the rear which instead released the covers . I'm in !!!Same difference !!
Did the cable to the points get broken on dismantle or was it terminally damaged before? Dunno. Gently the internals were removed and sonic cleaned. A search of government wire stock found some lovely silicone rubber sheathed cable of the correct gauge. A reminder of bygone thoroughness and pride in product was found on line in the form of a 4 page workshop manual covering all 'one' needs to know about Lucas H.F. series motorcycle horns. . Rebuild time.
With a generous few coats of black paint and a couple of new 4BA stainless screws to hold the contact breaker assembly back in place the H.F. tooter was in danger of becoming 'Too sexy for it's Honk'..The afore mentioned honk has to be found through minute turning of the front cover which due to its fitting method moves outwards/inwards to give the correct armature sleeve gapping...Pheeeweee! Every day's a skool day!.!!!
Wasn't getting much honk from my small 6v battery so pushed 12v down its cable and with a bit of twisting and turning of adjusting screws and cover I got mi'sef a barp to frighten any lollipop lady! Hopefully when mounted on Lovely Maroon her 6v with a few more amps and a good earth behind it will do the same.
Lock the external clamping rim with a specially made Crackleport stainless bolt/nut and call it a wrap.
Posh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get tha' kettle on...and don't hold back on the dunky Hobnobs.....This 60 year old musical instrument is back in one piece.
And if I see this fookin' clown out on the road he'll be the first to get a full 5 short blasts of Lucas H.F. 1442 right up his fat public skool ar*e.. (Which should give ample warning of my intention!!!!)
