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Power Antenna

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Old 11-09-2016, 10:34 AM
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Car: 1984 Trans Am
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Power Antenna

So I was restoring my power antenna...



I popped it open and found something interesting, the blue RTV said that someone was in there before:



I found that instead of using a plastic replacement cable it was a metal speedometer type cable.

I don't know if this was a kit available for rebuilds or if someone came up with a DIY plan. One thing is for sure, the cable will never break.

Here is the other end of the cable:



This end is just a bent tube crimped on to fit in the gear assembly, available at any hardware store. So this tube + a "HELP" brand speedometer cable repair kit and your set.

I thought it was a really , I don't remember seeing this on any rebuild threads here, so hopefully someone will find this useful.

Here was the end result:

Old 11-09-2016, 11:49 AM
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Re: Power Antenna

Another fix....nice!

This fix has been around a while.
http://turbobuick.com/threads/how-to.../#post-2938921
Old 11-09-2016, 01:04 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

Yup! makes you wish GM had made them that way from the get-go.
Old 11-09-2016, 10:31 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

may have to try that, how difficult is t to remove the antenna?
Old 11-10-2016, 04:57 AM
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Re: Power Antenna

Not hard. Remove inner fender and fish it out.
Old 11-10-2016, 05:21 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

There is a thread here about replacing the factory nylon ribbon with a plastic coated (optional) metal cable. Same type of idea here. Was never a "kit" or repair offered through GMSPO that I know of.

I chose to have mine done. If you want to see some of the R&R steps, there are in the thread about my car (link in signature).
Old 11-20-2016, 10:54 AM
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Re: Power Antenna

Found some old notes of mine about testing these things.

If you need to run the motor to check operation, this is how I connected mine up for testing when it was out of the car:

Down:
White wire: Pos. +
Green wire: Neg. -

Up:
Green wire: Pos. +
Grey wire: Neg. -
Old 08-25-2020, 12:26 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

Old thread but I thought someone can advice me .... took my power antenna apart and cleaned everything out including all the old grease on / in the large plastic gear / spool to get rid of old dry stuff.

anyway what type of grease should I use when re-greasing it all ? Being plastic I just want to make sure I use the right grease as petroleum based grease would not be very good.

any recommendation much appreciated
Old 08-26-2020, 12:51 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

I can't recall if I used dielectric grease, WD-40, or a mixture of both, but it's been years and it is still working great!
Old 08-27-2020, 12:55 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

put a nice coating of lithium grease on the cable before inserting in the mast
Old 08-27-2020, 03:08 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

Different plastics, but I've used Lubriplate 105 in the plastic hatch pulldown with no ill effects. This was ~30 years ago.

Last time I opened it up, I used Lubriplate SFL-0 synthetic, food grade grease. Lubriplate confirmed that it is plastic safe.
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Old 09-03-2020, 05:20 PM
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Re: Power Antenna

Originally Posted by DynoDave43
There is a thread here about replacing the factory nylon ribbon with a plastic coated (optional) metal cable.
Anyone able to find that thread? I remember it, but cannot seem to find it.


Nevermind. Found it. For anyone else looking, here it is:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/car-...r-antenna.html

Last edited by blacksunshine'91; 09-03-2020 at 05:28 PM.
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