Power Antennas were never available from the factory on an E body, but I enjoy having one on my car.
It makes having a car cover WAY more easy to deal with.
Previously, I had installed a Metra Antennaworks 44-PW22 which I purchased from Year One.
It's a universal fit that comes with a variety of rubber/plastic bezels to fit different fender shapes.
I mounted it in my 'Cuda on the quarter panel, AAR style.
I located the antenna hole in the quarter panel in the correct AAR location, but all of the bezels included with this antenna require a smaller diameter hole than the factory bezel. This wasn't a problem for me since I was doing a new installation in the quarter panel, but anyone replacing a factory antenna would need to figure out what to do for a bezel. (more on that later in this thread)
What I really like about this antenna is that it's just the right height to fit between the top of the quarter panel and the trunk floor, and this very conveniently locates it next to a panel alignment hole at the rear of the inner/outer wheel well, which is an excellent place to fasten a support bracket, so you don't have to drill any extra holes in your car for the installation.
The wiring runs along the passenger side of the car, just like an original AAR antenna lead.
Though I installed this in a quarter panel, it would also have no problems fitting in a fender, you just need to design some kind of support bracket to help hold the antenna.
I've been using this power antenna for 12 years without problems. I like it so much that I bought another one for my T/A Challenger build.
I have had one problem with this antenna. Eventually (years) the included bezels get weathered and disintegrate. I'm sure the bezel could probably be replaced with another from any universal antenna kit. I haven't replaced mine yet, and it doesn't leak, but I feel like it would crumble if I removed it. The ideal solution would be to find a way that uses the original style metal bezel. It would look right for the car, last forever, and allow the power antenna to easily replace an original antenna without worrying about the mounting hole size.
Here's a pic of the Metra Antennaworks 44-PW22 antenna, along with another picture that shows it being test fit into a 70 Challenger.
The red arrow points to where you would bolt the support bracket.
RetroSound puts together a kit with the proper bezels :alan2cents:
https://www.retromanufacturing.com/products/1970-74-plymouth-barracuda-fully-automatic-power-antenna?variant=31333451342
With the existing power antenna bezel issue I was having, I was pretty excited to hear about Retro Sound offering an antenna that used the original style antenna bezel.
I went ahead and bought one from Classic Industries to try it out on one of my Mopar projects.
recently put a "vintage" eBay purchased power antennae in the factory location on a 40K mile survivor '69 Dart GT
::) not sure what that has to do with anything, but the post worked :cooldance:
:rubeyes: I think it is a white GTS clone now :thinking:
Thanks Dan. I still can't seem to get my picture uploaded here in this thread, but I think the rest of the forum is working fine for me.
It's odd.
Edit: I was also having trouble with typing here earlier, but I seem to be able to type ok here now. Now I'm wondering if it's some kind of problem with the pic I'm trying to upload, though I don't think that would explain text, smileys, & topic titles disappearing from the screen. It's just a Jpeg like other images I've uploaded, and it's a smaller file size than other images I've uploaded. Hmm...
Edit Again: I've uploaded a different picture than originally intended, and that seemed to work. Maybe I'll just skip that other picture.
Can you send me the picture in question? davewitt at earthlink dot net . . . I want to see what the issue is. :thinking:
Quote from: Spikedog08 on September 19, 2017, 06:14:22 AM
Can you send me the picture in question? davewitt at earthlink dot net . . . I want to see what the issue is. :thinking:
I tried posting that picture in the picture testing section of the forum just now, and it still didn't work. Everything else seems to be working fine.
Sure, I emailed the pic to you and Cody.
I noticed that the pic wouldn't preview in my email, but I could download it from the email fine. Odd, maybe it's just this picture.
It's just a pic of the product, which I saved off the company website. .jpg, and smaller file size than other pics I've uploaded.
EDIT: Everything seems to be working now. Proceeding as scheduled.
Here's what the Retro Sound power antenna looks like next to the Metra Antennaworks antenna.
The two units are not identical, but they're VERY similar.
The main differences are that the Retro Sound antenna has a longer antenna, and a flexible section between the antenna and the motor.
The Retro Sound antenna was purchased for use on my 70 Road Runner, but before I installed it onto that car, I was hoping to use it to figure out a better antenna setup for my T/A, so that I wouldn't repeat the same aged bezel issues that my 'Cuda has.
I tried test fitting the new Retro Sound antenna into the T/A antenna location.
It would fit, but not near as nicely as the previous Metra antenna. The flexible portion was awkward, putting the antenna motor 16 inches away from the bottom of the antenna mast, and I didn't see a satisfactory way to create a support bracket, at least not without drilling holes in the car.
Hmm :thinking:
Maybe I could just install the original bezel with adapter onto my Metra antenna.
Here's an exploded view of how the original bezel with adapter fits onto the Retro Sound antenna.
The adapter has internal threads that screw onto the power antenna, and a flange at the bottom for the rocker bracket to sit on.
Then it just goes together like a regular antenna.
The adapter slides over the black portion at the top of the Retro Sound antenna.
Unfortunately, the adapter won't fit onto the Metra antenna because its black portion is shorter.
The interior diameter of the adapter would need machined to a larger diameter for it to fit over the Metra antenna, and I didn't have the equipment handy to accomplish that task.
Additionally, it seemed impractical to buy a whole antenna just to get this adapter for use on my other antenna. I wouldn't want to purchase two power antennas for every car that I build in the future.
There must be a better way.
I also didn't care for the flexible shaft of the antenna while test fitting it on the 70 Road Runner.
I decided to remove the flexible shaft portion of the antenna.
I started by removing the two screws which hold the mast to the flexible housing.
These two screws are directly opposite each other.
The mast was loose now, but not free. It was still held in place by the drive cable that makes it go up and down.
I removed the nut that holds the cover on the unit.
This revealed the drive cable drum, which is where the drive cable is coiled up like a spring while the antenna is down.
The drum is held in place by an E clip.
I carefully removed the E clip, and carefully removed the drum, uncoiling the nylon drive cable.
Next I removed these 3 screws that were holding this nylon plate into place.
This plate helps to guide the drive cable, and also holds one end of some of the gear shafts.
Then I removed this nylon roller. It just lifts out.
The purpose of the roller is to hold the teeth of the drive cable against the drive gear.
Now that the teeth of the drive cable are not engaged with the drive gear, you can slide the antenna mast with drive cable out of the motor housing.
The mast is now separate from the motor.
Here is what you'll find when you pull the mast out of the flex housing.
The drive cable is internally attached to the mast. Don't try to separate them.
The down stop is a bumper that the antenna hits when retracting. This keeps it from retracting to far into the motor. Save this, it will be reused.
There are two screws which attach the flex housing to the motor housing.
They're not directly opposite each other, one of them is offset from the other one.
Remove these two screws and set the flex housing aside. It's finally out of the way. Keep the screws.
Next will by mounting the mast tube to the motor housing.
The motor housing has two offset mounting holes, and the mast tube has two directly opposite mounting holes.
You can reuse one of the existing mast tube screw holes, but the offset hole will have to be drilled into the mast tube before fastening it with the screws.
The screw marked with the arrow in this picture is the hole that aligns with the existing mast tube holes.
Insert the mast tube into the motor housing, and rotate it until one of the screw holes lines up. You can use either hole, but rotating the mast tube affects which direction the antenna lead will point when you're done, so choose the hole that you like best.
Using this hole, fasten the mast tube in place with one of the screws.
With the mast tube now held in the proper location, I used a 7/64 drill bit through the offset hole in the motor housing, to drill the new mast tube hole in the correct location.
After drilling, I removed the mast tube from the motor housing to clean up any burs or drill shavings. Don't want those getting into the antenna motor.
Next I put the down stop at the bottom of the mast tube, inserted them into the motor housing, and fastened them in place with the two screws.
This nylon drive cable guide just slides in and out. I had taken it out to get a better picture of the down stop. If you take it out, remember to put it back in.
Almost Done.
Without the flex housing installed, the drive cable is to long to fit inside the drum.
Measure the flex housing (I think it was about 16 inches), and cut that much off the end of the drive cable.
Measure twice, cut once.
Now slide the antenna all the way into the mast tube, and install the nylon roller to hold the drive cable in place against the drive gear.
Reinstall the nylon guide plate with the three screws.
This is the tricky part... coil the drive cable inside the drum and reinstall the drum.
The drive cable is slippery from all the grease. If you need more grease for some reason, it's white lithium.
Now reinstall the motor housing cover.
Done!
It may look like a lot, but it's really not that difficult. A few screws and drill a little hole. Anyone can do this.
Phillips screwdriver
little wrench for the motor housing nut
drill with 7/64 bit to drill one hole
side cutters to cut the drive cable.
I like this power antenna a lot better now that it doesn't have the flexible section in the middle. I think it fits under fenders a lot better now, and it still uses the original style antenna bezel. It fit great in my 70 Road Runner, and I was able to make a support bracket that didn't require drilling any extra holes in the car.
The real question though was how well it would fit in a T/A quarter panel location.
It does fit, but just barely. The antenna mast is still taller than the Metra antenna, which puts the motor very near to the surface of the trunk floor. You could use about two washers as spacers, and support the antenna motor with holes drilled through the trunk floor.
I'd rather not drill extra holes in my trunk floor, so it's a bit to close to the trunk floor for my tastes.
Seeing how the adapter for the original antenna bezel works has given me an idea though. I need to find a machinist who can make me an original bezel adapter for the Metra antenna. There must be a way to make this work the way I want.
I've changed out hundreds of broken masts, unless the white nylon track is broken you don't need to take everything apart, just remove the nut that captures the antenna & the light steady pull on the antenna it will pull right out... To reinstall just slide the nylon track down the tube till it stops then have one person continue to push in lightly while a second person hits the down switch... It's best to have the mast extended so you can guide the mast down the tube easily...
Wow, hundreds is a LOT!
Yeah, I was tempted to put power to the antenna when reinstalling the mast (to suck it in), but the nylon drive cable had a pretty good curl to it from having already been coiled inside the drum, plus I already had it apart anyway by that point.