power antenna stuck up. am going to check relay and power circuits. anyone know the contact info to the person who refurbishes/sells the complete power antenna units? thanks!!

 

I got a replacement from Classic Industries. Haven't installed it yet.

 

Search on here for the power antenna steel cable modification. If you are able to replace the antenna yourself you are more than able to do this modification. It fixes the design flaw that all of these have (including reproductions). Once you do it, no more stuck antenna, ever.

 

sweet. thanks i will search for that mod. ill let you know what i find. that would be great as i have this firebird and a 90 caprice that both need power antennas repaired. and as we all know, its a huge job.

 

Cool, if you can’t find it just post back here and I’ll type up what I can remember. It’s been several years though haha

 

Just buy a new one, the Crown 56003151 drops right in and is identical to the OE unit. All you have to do is turn the mast 180 and switch over the finial from your old one. It worked great in my 88’ GTA, the price is good too at under $100.

 

Below is a link I put up last year about my factory antenna swap. Barney can rebuild your antenna back to better than factory spec.

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

 

Barney did mine. Note the date on that...pricing may have changed.



I went through the install process (and several other repairs and upgrades performed at the same time) on my care HERE.

 

thanks guys. ill check that crown out...at the least, i need to get a rebuilt power antenna and swap it out and can send the old one back as a core. i dont have the down time to keep the car torn apart that long. ill check the relay too.

 

If you do the Crown unit be sure to test before install. It just requires you remove the trim panel where power antenna relay/connector for power antenna is( the passenger side hush panel and IIRC the plastic trim above it) , unplug the old one and try the new one and verify it works. It saves a lot of hassle of finding out the antenna won’t work after you install, connect old antenna to mast and splice the 3 wires.

If you do a search it will show you exactly how it’s done and greenlight filming on YouTube has a good video as well.

 

I believe Barney rebuilds them with the steel cable method, so if still available that would be better than any replacement units.

The issue with the factory and replacement units is that the antenna is driven up and down by a nylon/plastic tether that will eventually break. When it breaks it will either leave the antenna up and unable to come back down (due to the tether being jammed in the mast) or it will stay down and not go up (because the tether has broken at the gear).

Even garage kept pavement princess cars will experience this.

 

That is correct. He has a great little shop setup with some homebuilt fixtures to do the repairs. If I recall correctly, he got into the repair business through being in the Buick Reatta club and they have similar equipment and issues. If you are thinking of rebuilding it, I would contact him sooner rather than later. He is an older gentleman, might retire from it all soon.

 

If he retires, I hope he passes the business on to someone else.

 

Ive done three cable upgrades, plus mine. Not that difficult, gets easier after you do the first one. You can get a flex cable at home depot or similar place, 3/32 dia.. Or just get the crown antenna.

 

does the crown antenna have the steel flex cable already? i need to get part numbers for my 89 firebird and a 90 caprice power antennas. thanks

 

Nope, same nylon cable as the OE.

 

Talked to Barney yesterday. He's still at it, but the email address that he uses has changed. He can be reached at barneyeaton1@gmail.com for anyone wanting to inquire about his services.

 

I just answered another post on this forum..... they were discussing the "Crown" replacement.
Also I do use plastic coated steel cable. I have no secrets so if you want to try and do your own contact me and I will walk you thru the process.
The one thing you must be able to silver solder..........the bottom of the Delco mast is stainless and very difficult to use regular solder.
I also buy my wire online and it is stainless that is used on modern open stairs (usually commercial) but plated steel wire cable will work.

 

Hey Barney. Welcome aboard! You rebuilt my antennae years ago, and I've been plugging your service ever since. See post #8 in this thread (above).

 

Yup, you're what led me to his services as well.

 

TX barney
Can I remove the RF, antenna, cable at the antenna. How is it connected ?
Thanks NS

 

It may be one of two ways.... most likely there are two phillips head screws holding the coax at the mast, remove them and the coax comes off.
On older units the coax has a knurled round nut that you just unscrew.

 

I can attest Barney does great work. Went out to meet him and see his operation a few years back and to drop off my antenna for repair. Hi Barney - Welcome to the forum ! When I got the antenna installed, I turned the radio on and off like a kid, just so I could watch the antenna go up and down. Still going strong!

 

Just wanted to say thanks to all involved in this Thread. The antenna mast snapped on the 89 GTA yesterday & while I have done mast replacements on my 2nd gen Trans ams, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to buy a new cable kit, or maybe have to settle for an aftermarket antenna.

Then a quick TGO search landed me on this thread & I thought, "thats a hell of an idea" So I stopped & picked up some 3/32" cable this afternoon & went to work. The repair worked perfectly!! I did drill out the two dimples on one side that held the nylon cord. This gave me a great location to feed the solder in.

Never thought I would have this fixed this weekend, so thank you.

I will say the repair was the easy part, It's getting the unit R/R'd that was the pain in the butt

 

The only comment I have......... on the mast end, chamfer the plastic or sometimes it will get caught when it tries to go UP There is a plug in the bottom of the mast and that plug has a hole where the rough end could catch.
Otherwise.... good job