Cliff Harris

I was stopped at a traffic signal and heard a strange noise coming from the rear of my car. I turned off the radio and it seemed to be coming from the antenna, which took a LONG time to go down. After it did go all the way down the noise went away. I knew I needed a new nylon cord.

This applies to Corvettes up through 1987. The antenna was redesigned in 1988 and is quite a bit different.

I have heard of removing the inner wheel well liner, the left rear tire, the tail lights and other methods. I didn't do any of those (this is the third time I've done this…). I just reached up around the muffler.

First I took off these mounting nuts (10mm) that attach the antenna bracket to the body. The studs were too long and I couldn't get a regular socket on the nuts so I had to use a deep socket. A long extension made this a lot easier than trying to work up inside this area.



Unlatch this ground strap mounting clip to release the ground strap:



Unscrew the ground strap screw from the frame. It's the lower small bolt (10mm), sorta lost in the dark because the tire blocked the camera flash. I used a long extension around the rear of the tire:



Now remove the rear surround, the driver's side surround and the driver's side security shade track. The antenna relay is buried in foam rubber on the driver's side of the hatch release assembly. Unplug the connector with the green, white and gray wires:



Now the antenna coax cable must be unplugged. It's buried in foam rubber on the driver's side behind the security shade track, just in front of the security shade. I pulled the wrong thing and broke it. It's the silver part, which must be unplugged from the black part. The coax cable that goes to the antenna normally comes out of the left end of the silver part (oops):



Now unscrew the large plastic nut on the top of the antenna mast. It screws on to the bottom of the bezel on the top of the fender. It's WAY up in there, so removing the driver's side tail lights might be necessary for you. I have very long arms, so I can reach it from below. I couldn't get the nut loose until I wiggled the antenna back and forth.

The large rubber grommet must be removed from the hole where the coax cable and harness go through the body.



The body of the antenna assembly is held together with 4 rivets and some clips around the edges. The rivets must be drilled out if they are still there. Since I've been here before the rivets are long gone, replaced by stainless steel screws:



After taking apart the antenna body, the innards are exposed. Now the broken nylon cord can be seen. The metal hook goes in the hole at the 3 o'clock position on the gear/pulley:



To get the nylon cord out of the mast this finial must be unscrewed. It attaches to the top metal section of the antenna. The metal rod is attached to the nylon cord:



Pull the nylon cord with the rod attached out of the mast. Clean everything. Put in the new nylon cord. Lubricate the gears. I put RTV in the groove around the edge of the antenna body. Reassemble and replace in the car.

I have found the nylon cords for less than $40, which is a lot cheaper than replacing the mast or the whole assembly. My recollection is that the first time I did this the nylon cord cost about $17, so prices have crept upward.

pcolt94

Nice write up as I did with my also. Will definitely help if you have not been down that road before.

Be thankful you have screws that hold the assembly together. Mine (94) has those darn plastic rivets that have to be drilled out and removed. I re-drilled everything and put in screws.

Cliff Harris

Mine originally had brass rivets. I replaced them with the stainless steel screws many years ago when the nylon cord broke the first time. This is the third time I'm doing this.

89 Vett

FWIW: I have a repair kit for sale at Parts from 1989

Red86Z51

That repair kit will not work in 1984-87's....that's for 1988-1992. I'm upgrading to the 1988+ style and just purchased one of those kits from AntennaMastsRus.com for $23.50 delivered ($17.50 and $6.00 shipping) ...installed in seconds and fits like OEM.

joeld

I ordered the kit from these folks last night. Did you just feed in the ribbon or dis-assemble the ant?

Joel

JackDidley

I did mine when I got the car at 35 k miles. Again 7 years later. That was in '05. I expect it to go again any day now. I dropped the cat back last time. Its easy and when it is gone I have easy access to the antenna.

Red86Z51

Joel-- I simply fed the toothed cable in, no disassembly required...that is unless you have a piece of the old cable broken off inside...which is unlikely. But if you have to open up the '88 and up antenna, you simply pull the boot towards the top, remove 3 screws and the retainer nut in the center and the cap easily lifts off. You will receive installation instructions with your new mast...it's a piece of cake to do!

Dave

joeld

Thanks
Joel

joeld

Good job on the write-up Cliff!!

Joel

artvette

Rather than take apart the interior, I cut the wires and installed factory weatherpak connectors. Now the antenna can just be unplugged for service. The coax wire can be disconnected with one screw right at the mast.

xrav22

Great I need to do this thx

AARRA

I can use some help from anyone who knows. I have a recently purchased '79 with power cb antenna. The person I got the car from said the antenna would go up, then continue to grind, so he disconnected it. I have not reconnected it, but want to get it working. Does this sound like the problem described in this thread or something else? How can I repair this or does it have to be replaced? Thanks in advance for any help.

artvette

Most all are repairable as long as the motor still runs. Contact AntennaMastsRus.com

Cliff Harris

The best way to find out is to take the antenna apart and see what's happening inside.

One easy test you can do it put up the antenna and see if the top rod will move up and down (it shouldn't). If it does move then the nylon cord is broken.

I had a '78 with the CB radio option. Really cool for communicating while on caravans with the Corvette club. Now they mostly use GMRS handheld radios. I like the CBs better for multiple reasons.

JohnGalt48

I was enjoying my '86 Roadster today for the first time in many years. I hadn't driven it in years, and it has only 4400 miles.
The first thing I noticed was the signal from the antenna to the radio seemed to be intermittent...coming and going on both AM and FM. It got worse as the day went on, until it finally quit receiving anything. The antenna had been going up and down just fine, until just now.
I stopped the car and the antenna tried to go down, but once it got all the way down, the motor kept running. I turned the radio back on and it came back up part way, and then basically stopped moving, although the motor kept running. I finally pulled the courtesy lights fuse to stop it.
Apparently, I have the broken nylon syndrome that I see described above, but could this also be connected to the intermittent station reception before the cable failed?
Also, reading the instructions for access to it, looks like that was a coupe. Anyone know what's involved to get access in a convertible?
thanks

playsdixie

I bought that $10 flexible antenna with short coax plugged in the back of the radio...put a chrome plug where the antenna used to be...works great...looks clean....no more motors or repairs...

Dt86

I'm also done with the power antenna. Hole is plugged and I have a hidden antenna now.

abenton

tried other antenna, but got poor reception, what kind of antenna did you use and where did you locate it, lastly hows the reception ?? thanks

playsdixie

plugged in directly in back of radio...ran it up beam by passenger window...reception seems ok...