First DIY on Jai

Did I ever tell you how much i dislike the puny horn which Fiat gave with Jai? The anemic horn is one of the first things I wanted to throw out - I gathered from different threads that Punto used to come with twin horns but from 2011, they have done some cost cutting and the Active model comes with a single Hella 'Popular' horn. Now, for a guy who uses Hella Redgrill on his Unicorn and have never used a factory fitted horn for long time in any of the bikes or cars, this single horn is as unimpressive as they can get.

This week, we were out at Reliance mall and while LOH was happily browsing through the apparels section, I slipped away and started browsing the Reliance Autozone and thought a pair of Hella Silver horn will make an ideal gift to Jai. After clicking couple of pics of some other bottles (not THAT kind of bottles which we men of stronger soul usually lust after, but the automobile equivalent of Olay and Garnier and all that stuff you get to see in your bathroom, if you are that kind of bloke who got yourself married to a PYT) I managed to extract myself with some dignity (of course, after paying the amount and all that) before the sales chap decided to kick me out for disturbing his daydreams.

Took Jai to a neighborhood workshop and got a quote for fixing those lovely silver disks - but being a Saturday, they were already full and wanted to come back on Monday and they want me to drop Jai and collect him after three hours - now, i was ok with the high estimate and everything but 'the dropping him to get things fixed' part - if they want to open him and fix the horns, better they do it when I stand there.

Came home and the DIY keeda started gnawing me - 250 rs for bumper removing and fixing it back, and 250 rs for fixing a horn, which you can even do in your sleep plus all the wire, relay etc on actuals - no wonder these workshops are mushrooming and I am sure they are making a neat packet.

Opened up my tool kit and after rummaging a bit, I got what all I needed - hella horn relay, couple of spade connectors and lots of wire and insulation tape. Armed with some DIY horn fixing gyaan from some other forums, I started opening up the front grill of Jai - I managed to pry open the grill, but the size 8 nut was proving to be a tough nut to crack, so after some futile attempts, I took Jai to the FNM (Friendly Neighborhood Mechanic) and asked him to open up the bumper for me. Once we removed the bumper, I started working on fixing the horns - he was amused to see me pulling out all the tools and sitting down to get the horns fixed, and during some small talk told me that I am the first car owner he have seen really working on the car, after taking the car to a workshop.

I was almost hoping that I will find the wiring for the second horn tucked away, and FIAT did not disappoint me - when the bumper was removed, I saw the wiring for one more horn neatly taped and tucked away. Fixed both the horns and was back home in about an hour with a mighty pleased Jai.

Tech specs:

Name: Hella Silver Horn

Current consumption : 6 Amp (Max)

Frequency: 335 Hz/400 Hz

Sound pressure : 117dB

price: 675 INR @ Reliance autozone, Arekere.

Some WIP pics: