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rogers82vette
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How do you remove and rebuild antenna and motor on a 1982 corvette. Any help would be apperciated.
6880 Mike
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- 1968 convertible; 1980 L-82
The assembly instruction manual (AIM) shows how the antenna was installed on the assembly line. Knowing how it went in is helpful when taking it out.
As far as repairing it, you may be limited as to what you can do.
As far as repairing it, you may be limited as to what you can do.
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bill81vette
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I bought a repair for my 81 several years ago.I believe fro. Corvette Central.haven't had a chance to install it yet
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Roger (?)
welcome to the CAC!!
You basically have to crawl under the driver side rear and unbolt it from there. It helps to take the wheel off so you can fit in there. The Service manual does show the repair/removal indeed, but it's not hard at all (If i managed to do this, anyone can :L), just a bit of a pickle to get the screws out from the tight space. Disconnect the Antenna cable and power from inside then crawl underneath and start taking out the holder and antenna. Once you have the thing in hand, you will have to drill it open (rivets!) to get to the inside. I had to replace the cable in mine (that pushes up the antenna) and i would give it a 2 out of 10 on the Stefan scale of easy to hard things to do.
Stefan
welcome to the CAC!!
You basically have to crawl under the driver side rear and unbolt it from there. It helps to take the wheel off so you can fit in there. The Service manual does show the repair/removal indeed, but it's not hard at all (If i managed to do this, anyone can :L), just a bit of a pickle to get the screws out from the tight space. Disconnect the Antenna cable and power from inside then crawl underneath and start taking out the holder and antenna. Once you have the thing in hand, you will have to drill it open (rivets!) to get to the inside. I had to replace the cable in mine (that pushes up the antenna) and i would give it a 2 out of 10 on the Stefan scale of easy to hard things to do.
Stefan
Lakeside49
Well-known member
Power Antenna Rebuild
I bought the rebuild "kit" from one of the C3 catalogs, though it is just the top part of the antenna (you'll throw away your old one) attached to the new plastic lead. There is already a very good step-by-step replacement instruction set, with photos, on Google. Google it and print it off - it worked well, preoccupying one evening of my time. So, aside from the instructions, which alao come with the replacement kit by the way, this will help you:
. Dont't be afraid of drilling out the rivets, but have stainless steel replacement nuts and bolts ready. Also, have a tube of lithium grease as well as a tube of sealing silicone. I might add that, despite keeping my '82 almost entirely original, I painted the black plastic body with silver spray paint upon re-assembly to help it deflect a little more heat as it is directly above the right muffler. Heat helped to kill it in the first place.
. It goes unsaid to clean the ground cable/connections, but I added a self-made silicone gasket (letting silicone dry on the points where the antenna body bolts up because, frankly, the power antenna creates noise and vibration when it is brought back to life - a lovely thing, but I wanted to discretely improve upon their NVH design.
. Have die-electric grease handy for the connections on the outside of the antenna.
. When installing the new plastic raise/lower cable, wrap it all tight with the antenna fully retracted (closed) then reassemble it, including silicone dealer to keep the healthy dose of grease that you just added, inside- as well as keeping the water our as it is squarely in the tire-spray zone. It is wiser to have it close, retracting fully into the housing vs. some of it left sticking out as I've seen in a few C3 pics. Be sure to have a long enough workbench or table to do this on.
. Use your silicone to re-seal the body seal where the antenna wires enter the car behind the right (drivers side) rear corner, behind the carpet/insulation. Remember that the seal pulls into the car, and should not be pushed out as I briefly tried.
. The little ball at the top of the antenna didn't easily want to give up its 32 year old habit of being there - don't worry about scratching the mast that it screws onto as it is part of the new replacement mast.
. Take a video or photos from a couple of angles when you first take out the unit - You will be glad that you did. Also, be prepared to pour out a surprising amount of road dirt/rust from the unit by turning it upside down. Or, it will leave a little mess on your table.
I guess that's about it. Don't be afraid of this job (just have a good treble light to see up there). It is all with it when (not if) it all goes back nicely and works that first time you turn on the radio. Besides, you (indirectly) paid for this option with the car so you'd might as well bring it to life which is not hard, but just requires patience and minimal cost.
Dave
I bought the rebuild "kit" from one of the C3 catalogs, though it is just the top part of the antenna (you'll throw away your old one) attached to the new plastic lead. There is already a very good step-by-step replacement instruction set, with photos, on Google. Google it and print it off - it worked well, preoccupying one evening of my time. So, aside from the instructions, which alao come with the replacement kit by the way, this will help you:
. Dont't be afraid of drilling out the rivets, but have stainless steel replacement nuts and bolts ready. Also, have a tube of lithium grease as well as a tube of sealing silicone. I might add that, despite keeping my '82 almost entirely original, I painted the black plastic body with silver spray paint upon re-assembly to help it deflect a little more heat as it is directly above the right muffler. Heat helped to kill it in the first place.
. It goes unsaid to clean the ground cable/connections, but I added a self-made silicone gasket (letting silicone dry on the points where the antenna body bolts up because, frankly, the power antenna creates noise and vibration when it is brought back to life - a lovely thing, but I wanted to discretely improve upon their NVH design.
. Have die-electric grease handy for the connections on the outside of the antenna.
. When installing the new plastic raise/lower cable, wrap it all tight with the antenna fully retracted (closed) then reassemble it, including silicone dealer to keep the healthy dose of grease that you just added, inside- as well as keeping the water our as it is squarely in the tire-spray zone. It is wiser to have it close, retracting fully into the housing vs. some of it left sticking out as I've seen in a few C3 pics. Be sure to have a long enough workbench or table to do this on.
. Use your silicone to re-seal the body seal where the antenna wires enter the car behind the right (drivers side) rear corner, behind the carpet/insulation. Remember that the seal pulls into the car, and should not be pushed out as I briefly tried.
. The little ball at the top of the antenna didn't easily want to give up its 32 year old habit of being there - don't worry about scratching the mast that it screws onto as it is part of the new replacement mast.
. Take a video or photos from a couple of angles when you first take out the unit - You will be glad that you did. Also, be prepared to pour out a surprising amount of road dirt/rust from the unit by turning it upside down. Or, it will leave a little mess on your table.
I guess that's about it. Don't be afraid of this job (just have a good treble light to see up there). It is all with it when (not if) it all goes back nicely and works that first time you turn on the radio. Besides, you (indirectly) paid for this option with the car so you'd might as well bring it to life which is not hard, but just requires patience and minimal cost.
Dave
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