I have a 69 2 door....will it be ok if I do away with the horn relay??? What problems can I expect? Also, I want to rewire the whole car, where is the best place for a new kit???

What do you mean "do away"???

If you get rid of the horn relay, you've got 2 problems to deal with:

1) the horn will not function

2) the terminals on the outside of the relay serve as an important junction point, connecting battery power to the need accessories/underhood equipment. You could devise some way (like a terminal strip) to transfer the correct wires over so they stay connected to complete the circuits. All the hot leads should be clear of metal surfaces or they'll short out http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif and you could risk a fire.

Bottom line, if you figure out the things addressed above, you'll be okay.

Joe

I believe you'll also lose the key warning buzzer if you do away with the horn relay.


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'69 Chevelle SS
Project still in the planning phase

it's ok to loose the horn, they don't work anyhow, everytime I hook the battery up the horn relay button starts humming and going crazy, even when I put a new one on, when I bypass it it's ok....????? sometimes these things can act crazy..what about a painless wiring kit? How "painless" are they?

The horn relay on my 69 did that once. The relay was fine, it turned out to be the ground wire in the column for the horn button. It was shorting out, but it was a bad connection and not good enough to completely fire it off. I just disconnected this wire where in plugs into the relay and drove around like that before I got around to fixing the problem. It is a single, black wire, can't remember the exact location though. Just disconnect the single-wire plug-in connections until it stops going nuts and all should be good.

I can't believe that you're actually thinking of driving around with no horns! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif The circuit is so simple. The relay has a "hot" feed on one end, and the other side of the relay coil is grounded through the horn contacts on the steering wheel. With most repro parts companies stocking all the parts needed, don't eliminate this very important safety device. Your safety and your car's safety depends on it!

[This message has been edited by MalibuJerry350 (edited 07-22-2000).]

Go for it!!! Do you know of any recent Formula One champ that had good horns?? No Way. Horns were a stupid idea that Chevrolet got sucked into. Fight back now and trash your horns.

Yeah, that'll work real well driving in NJ or New York, right BBD?

coppertop is right, the horn relay is a main distribution point for your chevelle (and most other '60's/early '70s gm products), if you want to junk it, splice the two hot wires together (make sure to solder them) and the car will run fine. re-wiring the engine compartment is so simple that a kit is a waste of money. are you running hei? what about internal regulated alternator? you can get rid of your external regulator really easily(i can tell you how if you want), and it really cleans up the engine compartment.

Kody, I was wanting to get rid of the stock alternator a long time ago..I never found an article with good enough detail so I left it alone...I have a mallory electronic ignition by the way...exactly how easy can it be? I have to do something, last night my lights just went out and it was storming like heck, not sure what happened, I pulled in a parking lot and just moved the voltage regulator around a little and all was well, that's the second time this has happened.. .what will I do when I'm running down the bypass at a high speed and they go off??? Can chevelles really fly????

One of the connections on the voltage regulator might be bad, or it might not be grounded to the car well. Changing to an internal regulator alternator is easy. It just needs to have a current limiting resistor wired in series with the field terminal (or you can use an alternator light on the dash for this).

broken 69
Item 14 at http://www.chevelles.com/techref/index.html pretty much tells you everything you need to know about swapping to an internal regulated alternator.

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Rick
72 El Camino (http://members.home.net/jimmy4/rick1972elky.html)
TPI350/700r4
TC#00038
ACES#00140

i have a 69 chevelle it has no horn relay so moron did away with it and now when I take the pos wire off the battery when car is running it stops running meaning it is running on the battery. Anyone have a good fix for this thanks.

VERY OLD POST!!!!!!! sdjim, since this is your first post, it is better to start a new one for asking a question. Now with that out of the way.....

i have a 69 chevelle it has no horn relay so moron did away with it and now when I take the pos wire off the battery when car is running it stops running meaning it is running on the battery. Anyone have a good fix for this thanks.Having no horn relay has nothing to do with the charging system. Also you should never pull the pos battery cable from the battery with the car running, it can blow the diodes in the alternator. To see if the charging system is working, check the voltage at the battery with the car running at a fast idle, should be between 14-14.5 volts. If the voltage is low, like 12.5, the alternator is not working at all.

VERY OLD POST!!!!!!! sdjim, since this is your first post, it is better to start a new one for asking a question. Now with that out of the way.....

Having no horn relay has nothing to do with the charging system. Also you should never pull the pos battery cable from the battery with the car running, it can blow the diodes in the alternator. To see if the charging system is working, check the voltage at the battery with the car running at a fast idle, should be between 14-14.5 volts. If the voltage is low, like 12.5, the alternator is not working at all.
it is at 14 to 15 on the gauge. what i meant by no horn relay is wiring has been hacked a few times and now no horn relay and only one wire out from alt to batteru. the plug on the alt is not there and no sign of a regulator anywhere else. so if i am having 14 to 15 volts it is charging?

i am also getting a lot of corrosion on the posi terminal

it is at 14 to 15 on the gauge. what i meant by no horn relay is wiring has been hacked a few times and now no horn relay and only one wire out from alt to batteru. the plug on the alt is not there and no sign of a regulator anywhere else. so if i am having 14 to 15 volts it is charging?
Yes, its charging. When the alternator stops charging, voltage will drop to 12 or so and continue to drop as the battery is discharged. You just have a 1 wire alternator.
i am also getting a lot of corrosion on the posi terminalI had that once. The battery is leaking around the terminal, when the car is running and charging it will corrode the terminal very fast. You just need to replace the battery.

ok thanks a lot Just wanted to make sure before i replaced the batery.

The answers to all your questions and troubles can be found here.
http://www.madelectrical.com/index.shtml
Spend some time reading on this site and you will walk away with a whole new understanding of your cars electrical system. If you still have questions give Mark a call (super nice guy that will talk your ear off). I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Mike