Horn Coating, Painted or Plated Options

[DennisV]

Can anyone tell me what the original coating was for the horns? Most of the ones I have seen are painted...with overspray. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Thanks to a pointer in another thread, I have managed to get the ones from our 914-6 working again. Despite several searches, I've yet to find a resource that indicates the proper coating after stripping the cover and the diaphragm.

• 914-635-103-11: Horn - HELLA - 335 HZ
• 914-635-104-11: Horn - HELLA - 400 HZ

Ours prior to stripping didn't offer much evidence to guide me.

[wonkipop]

not galvanised.

originally the horn on the 914 was black painted.
mine is still original unmolested - the paint on the rear surface is quite intact.
the front surface pointed towards the bumper grille is flakey but still 1/2 there.
i do not believe what is underneath is galvanised metal. its possible but if it is its very thin galvanising. certainly not hot dipped. i'm inclined to believe its a high copper content tin or something like that as a metal.

newer replacement horns manufactured decades later - different story.
not made quite the same as the original 60s / 70s era horns.

OP's photo above shows the black paint clearly.
underneath where its been painted white over the top and is flaking off.

my old squareback i had back in the 80s was the same.
black painted. that was an original factory horn on that car.

[DennisV]

OP's photo above shows the black paint clearly.
underneath where its been painted white over the top and is flaking off.

Thanks for the replies. I probably should have provided more detail. I just assumed it was obvious to everyone but me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

The original photo is with the grill removed, so that is the diaphragm. Part of what makes this confusing is:

1. I can't say for certain these are the original horns, but they appear correct.
2. One horn is screwed closure and the other riveted
3. The interior of this one (screwed closure) is a mixture of dark, white, and rust as seen in original post, but the exterior grayish.

I don't know why someone would have painted the diaphragm and not the cover. The cover originally looked something like this VW photo.

I'm not sure if that is a galvanized coating or perhaps some sort of plating? Sounds like the consensus from @StarBear and @aturboman is galvanized.

CRC has a spray Zinc-It Instant Cold Galvanized coating. I wonder if that would get me close. There is an interesting user test video where you can see it sprayed out. Looks about right to me.