Hi All, new member here. Just a heads up, I'm young, dumb, and working on my first corvette basically flying by the seat of my pants so please bear with me. I recently inherited a 1982 base corvette from my late uncle; he had it garaged for 20 years and it has less than 15K miles on it. My dad and his brothers were really into racing back in the day, but aren't really able to help or teach me how to work on them nowadays (though I occasionally get a good earful when I screw up )

After completing a top end rebuild (mostly cleaning) and rebuilding the brakes I noticed that the antenna is now stuck in the fully extended position with a rather loud whirring noise coming from the offending area. There is also a buzzing noise which seems to be coming from the front drivers side dash speaker which gets worse when the volume is higher. (please note that I am still trying to figure out how to use the OEM radio's ***** since im 21 and have zero experience with cassette players)

I have since disconnected the power relay to the antenna motor near the battery and removed the antenna and motor assembly from the back of the car.

My questions are thus:
1. If I do end up having to replace the speakers (both dash and rear compartment) are there any specific tools or hidden screw locations I should be aware of? I am a college student and tend to work on it away from home though I do have access to a well equipped garage and work bench.
2. I intend to keep everything as stock as possible. I've read lots of posts about people replacing them with aftermarket speakers, is there anything wrong with reproductions? Seems like people avoid them
3. If I can't repair the antenna after drilling out the rivets, would it be preferable to buy an original used or to buy a reproduction?

Again I apologize in case any of these seem like stupid questions; just a city-raised millennial trying to reconnect with his farming family roots. On the side, if anyone has any suggestions on resources for restoring C3 corvettes (aside from the original shop manual which I already have) I'm very open to hearing what ya'll have to say.

Thanks!

 

No special tools. Fronts can be difficult to reach.

No. I have a pair of stock reproductions in my 68. No problems.

These bolt up. You should not have to drill out any rivets unless you swap antennae and need the mounting bracket.

Your choice. An original in working order might be hard to find. Your existing antenna may be repairable.

Do you have the assembly instruction manual (AIM). The AIM shows how the speakers and antenna were installed at the factory.

 

Thanks for the great info! The only thing is that I'm 99% sure my antenna is riveted not bolted, though I just found pictures of people replacing them with bolts after opening them up the first time. The shop manual I have gives a wiring diagram. Here's to hoping I don't have to feed a wire all the way up to the radio!

 

YES...the special rivets that GM used can be drilled out and carefully use bolts and nuts.

IF you choose NOT to do that...just make sure that you get the CORRECT ANTENNA so the nice antenna bezel/nut can be used and not some 'jacked-up' aftermarket antenna with a nut that is higher than the body and looks like crap. SO...if you can save this antenna..it is worth it.

I can 'say' that the wiring connectors for your speakers are unique to match up with the cars wiring...and it has been a long time for me to have to change out original speakers with the reproductions....so hopefully they take that into consideration so it is an easy change out.

Obviously you know that you can replace the dash speakers simply by removing the speaker cover and using a box end wrench.

The rear ones require you to remove the three screws that hold the speaker grille housing and then you can remove the nuts to get it off of that and re-install teh new speaker. BUT....BE CAREFUL in this area due to some portions of the rear speaker mount bracket are plastic can can break if you are too aggressive with it....but they also are available if you need them.

DUB