Radio antenna question

[BamaJohn]

Hello, I’m new this group and a new Vette owner. New to me anyway. I have had a ball learning about my new family member. The hard part is keeping my wife out of the driver’s seat. Besides spending lots of cash I’ve managed to come up with some dumb questions for you all. If you have a power antenna isn’t it supposed to go down? How do you fix it short of replacing it? (Who am I kidding; it’s gone if that’s what it takes). I bought a cover of the Vette, cus it’s around 180 degrees here in the shade. I can’t figure how to get the darn antenna down to put it on. Secondly, the outside mirrors are heated, do they come on with the rear window defogger? As you can tell the owners manual was not with the car. I’ve ordered one of those too. Is there a site that will outline the features of a C-4? I guess that’s enough dumb questions for now. I’m sure I’ll come up with lots more until you’al run me off. Thanks BamaJohn.

1991 Black (as in HOT) coupe.

P.S. I've learned so much from this site already, Thanks again

 

[JrdnsEdu]

BamaJohn- I can't answer your questions, but I do know you can find the features/options on your '91 if you go to the "Tech Center" tab at the top of the page and click on 'Model Center". Then choose your year and there is a bunch of good info in there.
Have fun exploring you new ride. I know I have with mine.

 

[handstjg]

The only dumb ? is the one you don't ask. I own an 86 and had the pleasure of rebuilding mine the first week I owned it. The antenna is connected with a nylon cable that goes around a gear that is driven by a dc motor. Heat is usually the culprit that causes the nylon to break. If you are mechanically inclined and right handed it is not that bad of a fix. You can find replacements on ebay, Mid America, or tons of other places.
Half the fun is posting questions and waiting for some great help from some of the nicest people around. If I can find the link I will post a corvette magazine article that explains the whole process.
Best of luck.

 

[Gorgon]

John, welcome to the CAC. The antennas are one of those things that like to go. Mine had already been replaced when I bought it but the other day I noticed that it wasn't going all the way up. And then it stopped going all the way down. Does it still move at all?

I gently helped extend mine all the way up. I then some degreaser on a clean towel and cleaned all the grease from the mast. From there I hit it with some Slick50 spray lube and it works perfectly now. This assumes that the mast is not broken at all and that dirt collected in the lubricant are preventing the mast from fully extending.

In your case it may be just as handstjg describes and you may be able to rebuild it. If not, replacements can be purchased from many places.

Good luck!

Leon

 

[jester]

You can try cleaning the antenna, but it's most likely the nylon cable. The replacement kit comes with the antenna mast and the nylon cable as a unit. It will also include instructions and the special wrench for removing the top nut. The kit can be bought for around $20 and it's a 15 minute job to replace. As to your other question. Yes, the heated mirrors come on with the rear window defogger.

Enjoy your ride.

 

[tyrel]

Just finished installing my new mast

It took FOUR HOURS. When I opened up the antenna housing, the nylon cable was in five separate pieces. I zipped in the new mast and rotated the motor by hand, so it pulled the ribbon in all the way before I reinstalled it.

For the life of me, I could not get the grommet back in again. It's in as far as it'll go without having to remove the entire rear bumper to get to it. I wish I had known that you don't have to remove the grommet to change the mast; it would have only taken me one hour instead of four. Oh well, it's nice to have a fully operational antenna again.

 

[oldace84]

The update antenna, from Mid America?
Is that the one?
thanks
tony