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In that case, eBay has quite the selection. "Federal Siren" is a good starting search term. Also, see if there are any SPAAMFAA meets in your area with a flea market.
These have a big draw. You will need a good heavy duty momentary switch, I used a floor switch, and some very heavy wire cloth wrapped to match the period. We ran mine to a circuit breaker off the solenoid I painted it the same gray paint. Mine is a 6V Sterling model 10 from the 40's. Look at Sireno sirens. They were big back then too. There is a full page ad for them in the 1954 FORD Hildys Blue Book. As I said below Gary Cahill restored my siren that I bought on Ebay. But he sells them restored and its a much better deal to just get them already done up from him by the time you pay to have the thing shipped and over pay for something on Ebay. https://rescuemarket.com thats his website. Great guy to do business with and talk to, and owns an old ford truck too. 10 gauge black cloth wire for ground, 12 gauge cloth red wire supplied by Gary Cahill. Chromed and new data plate restored with original bracket. Used 53-55 rubber covers for the siren floor switch and the high beam switch 30 amp circuit breaker is painted same period correct gray enamel as solenoid. I know its upside down. Gary Cahill Restored this one for me. He's got an original Ford 52 Firetruck. Here it is mounted just in front of the radiator behind the grille fit in well. larger view of how we ran the wires. The red cloth is a little strange front and center, but what are you going to do. I believe thats how it would have been installed back in the day.
Oh by the way another thing to consider when buying one is if its free wheeling or not. Look up "Free Wheeling" Sirens. They have a much different sound. Im not sure if the Federal 28 is free wheeling or not? Mine isn't but I really like the sound of it. The Sterling model 30 is 12v and I believe is free wheeling. If you search for them on You tube you can get a reference for how they might sound just like your'e doing.
52Flthed I ended up buying a federal 28 from rescuemarket, I should be getting it sometime next week. Could you send me a pic of how you mounted yours. Thanks
52Flthed I ended up buying a federal 28 from rescuemarket, I should be getting it sometime next week. Could you send me a pic of how you mounted yours. Thanks
glad to hear it! You’ll have a great siren. We mounted obviously with that bracket you see pictured on the right side vertical panel. in front of the radiator. There is a lot of room between the grille and radiator. I’ll send you better pictures over the weekend. Truck is at a storage unit for now.
Thanks I would like to add a fuse or relay for my set up, the siren is 12v and so is my truck l. Do you recommend anything in particular while wiring up? I don’t want to damage the siren or my truck
Thanks I would like to add a fuse or relay for my set up, the siren is 12v and so is my truck l. Do you recommend anything in particular while wiring up? I don’t want to damage the siren or my truck
i deferred to Gary Cahill, and my electrician who did a complete rewire of my truck at the time this was installed . I believe he recommended the circuit breaker which operates on heat principle. The floor switch Gary told me was necessary to handle the load. I’m 6v pos. With the original dash circuit breakers. Not all accessories get tied into that though like the engine compartment light. I had a fire previously with the last light so I used a period correct buss in line fuse for that when the new one was installed. I just erred on the side of caution and followed advise of the experts and researched what was being done. I wasn’t shy about asking questions to Gary either.
Other people on this forum will have more specific advice for you on safely installing this.
How many amps does this one draw? I know that’s a calculation that will need to be made, as to how best protect it.
I will have to get with Garry because I don’t want to mess up 😬
I know what you mean. Gary helped me out a lot. We installed this so it’s protected and isolated from any other wiring. It’s powered from the solenoid but thorough the circuit breaker first. Im not sure where it's grounded to. We used 10 Gauge wire. I could look and trace it when I take the photos.
I suppose there’s other ways of doing this but for us we wanted to keep it isolated and separate from the ignition or lighting wiring. So its independent of anything else in the truck.
Keep us posted on your project’s progress it’s interesting.
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