Underhood Sirens

I am interested in getting a small, underhood siren for my 68 MM combo, but I am unfamiliar with sirens and what would have been put on my car back in 1968, and also what will fit in it.

I was looking at Federal 28s but i am not sure whether or not that would be period correct for my car. Can anyone provide any insight or resources for me in regards to sirens?
 
I have a functional Federal Interceptor in my 1976 which, as far as I know, is original to the ambulance.

One of the better articles I found was: https://www.professionalcar.org/federalsirens-447

If you intend to make the siren functional, make sure the under hood speaker is rated for the wattage of your siren.

It should go without saying, be careful to observe the rules in any car show or parade.
 
The 28 under the hood would be correct. The are a loud siren. normally mounted side ways behind the grill. If you are lucky the plate for it will still be there. We get out of PT I can post a few pictures of the setup. It's the same on my 67. They did have a 65-68 set up that went into one of the bumper pods. But it was only a 5 inch siren. I had one on my 68. It went with the car.
 
here you are the superior mount and the 28 mounted on it. plenty of room. and this is the federal 58cs that was designed to go int the front bumper pod
 

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Thanks for the info. I know behind the grill there are several things in the way, so i will see if there is room around the plate. There is a small speaker that says "play horn", I assume thats the horn, kinda weird name for a car horn though.

I will keep my eye open for one when I have a little bit of extra cash.
 
At a car show this past weekend someone was talking to me about sirens and suggested I look into cattle sirens as they sound the same. I looked into it and while they do sound similar, the wind up speed seems a little fast and the price difference for a pierce cattle siren and a old federal are mostly negligible.

If any of you have an extra siren, i may be willing to buy. It doesnt necessarily need to be a Federal 28, but anything that sounds authentic and could be mounted behind my grill or opposite to my battery.

I actually had found some yugoslavian siren on ebay and am currently keeping an eye on that as well.
 
depending on how loud you want the siren to be, you can buy a burglar alarm siren very cheaply. I might even have one in the garage that you can have for the shipping cost. If it interests you, send me a PM, and I will take a look... Paul
 
Factory

Your car would have come from the factory with either a Federal Model 28 in the mechanical and most common option or the Federal Director model as a electronic siren that had wail, yelp, PA and radio as options. I don't believe the Federal Interceptor came out till the late 60s or early 70s
 
Kevin's offer is a good one for your coach! Especially given the fact that it has been professionally restored!
 
That does sound very nice, unfortunately I am going to have to hold off for a bit. I will certainly keep it in mind though. A little while ago I installed a very tiny, cheap Vixen Horns siren so i would have something for the parade I was in this month. It worked but as expected for a dinky little siren it isnt super loud and it sounds pretty wimpy.

But its a proof of concept and now I have the wiring in place for when I eventually have the change to spend on a real siren. I need to see if I can wire it to that floor button and see if that still works
 
That does sound very nice, unfortunately I am going to have to hold off for a bit. I will certainly keep it in mind though. A little while ago I installed a very tiny, cheap Vixen Horns siren so i would have something for the parade I was in this month. It worked but as expected for a dinky little siren it isnt super loud and it sounds pretty wimpy.

But its a proof of concept and now I have the wiring in place for when I eventually have the change to spend on a real siren. I need to see if I can wire it to that floor button and see if that still works

The horn switch doesn't work?
 
The horn switch doesn't work?

I am actually not sure if my floor switch works as I only discovered it over this last weekend at a meet where it was pointed out to me (it was covered up by the floor carpet).

When I have some time I plan on testing it out and see if I can start using it.
 
That switch would only operate the solenoid for the mechanical siren. It would probity run the small one you have. But most of them under the carpet were shortly destroyed by water. If you do the search on the site you can come up with the proper way to wire the mechanical siren.
 
Concealed siren on Presidential limousine

According to the documentation with the Lincoln shown below, the final convertible was built in 1968, but this car was configured in 1969. The Federal EG siren, maybe the only siren that would fit, is partially visible at lower left in the engine compartment.

The final photo is of a '74-'76 Security Car with vinyl roof & vinyl-covered sunroof. The yellow circle shows the lights used to illuminate the flags on each fender. The flag holders were removed before the sale. The owner said the car had running boards & hand-holds because he can see where they were cut away.

Of some 100 vehicles in the collection, all but 3 run, and include fire trucks, hit-and-miss one cylinder motors, several trucks, including an unrestored 1948 Chevy Railway Express, and the first motorized fire truck, or type of fire truck, owned by various fire departments, along with a Carole Lombard car.

They are in an unidentified, purpose-built, no-windows, heated & sprinklered brick building. Several unrestored vehicles are outside, including a '70's-vintage cab-over Ford with aerial ladder the owner drives to his house to decorate at Christmas. The collection is shown infrequently, but the convertible is used in local parades. A guard is on the grounds at all times, and a full-time mechanic cares for all vehicles. He said the owner typically comes in every day, picks out a car and uses it for that day's business. The owner's brother and sister are co-owners.

I don't know why the letter is sideways, but I welcome instructions on correcting, or for administrators to do so.
 

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