JLinCA

The power antenna in my 1981 flipped it's lid today. The damn thing won't turn off, the motor keeps cycling but the antenna itself doesn't go down. I finally had to disconnect the battery.

I see there's a repair kit available, for those that know would this help??

mobiux

I've got the same problem on my 79. Haven't taken the time to figure it out yet. It sounds like a gear slipped or it jumped a track.

theoUK

Most likely the nylon flexible cable inside has broken. It's like a thick version of the cable that's used in brush-cutters. Yep, if you buy the repair kit, you get a new cable, not a hard job to replace it, a tiny bit fiddly maybe.
Oh, and to stop the motor running for the time being, without needing to disconnect the battery, unplug the plug that has white/grey/green wires from the relay in the jack storage box.
:cheers:

isosceles

the same thing happened to mine on the way home when I bought it. The bad part was that it was a 1500 mile ride from Boston to Cape Coral, FL! :eek: . I drove straight through, then disconnected the battery when I got home. By the time I arrived home, the antenna motor sounded pretty bad. The next day, I disconnected the power lead from it and it's been that way ever since. I have a junk radio in the car, so it really doesn't bother me. Other things to fix first! :smash:


[Modified by isosceles, 7:45 AM 4/30/2004]

JLinCA

Thanks for the disconnect tip Theo!!! I'm going to order a repair kit today.

theoUK

No worries mate, they're only about 20 bucks from Ecklers, for example.
To be honest the most frustrating part of the job is having to drop the exhaust to even get at the antenna! Once you've got it on the bench it's quite a simple little job.
:cheers:

JLinCA

I just ordered one from there today. I'm not looking forward to removing the antenna. I'm going to see if I can get it out without touching the exhaust, it's never been touched.

Maybe you can answer another question for me? Can I put a 78 speedometer face on my 81 speedometer and have it be accurate without doing anything else?

skeptic

Same thing happened to me Tuesday night... I was in Nebraska on my way from Oregon to Florida.. :eek: I disconnected the battery for the night, then found the power lead in behind the drivers speaker the next morning. I figured it was a combination of bad placement sitting almost on top of the exhaust plus too many hours driving, but maybe it's just the power antenna design itself?

When I bought my '81 in '94 the guy I bought it from gave me the original non-functioning power antenna in a bag (which I've lost over the years). Apparently that was the only non-stock part on the entire car. Are these antenna repair kits universal or do I need to try to get one specific to whatever antenna is currently on the car?

edit: I'd also like to hear the speedometer answer...


[Modified by skeptic, 1:48 AM 5/1/2004]

theoUK

Don't know whether the antenna repair kits are universal, but the replacement cable that Eckers sells is for the original antenna supplied with late 70's /early 80's vettes.

As far as the speedo goes, you would need to change the calibration of the actual speedo unit, in order to put a different face on it. Imagine you're doing 50 miles per hour and the needle on the stock (85mph) clock is pointing straight up. If you change the face only, but leave the guts of the speedo as stock, then the needle pointing straight up might read 100 mph on a 78 clock face that goes up to 140/160.
To make it work and be accurate, you have to get the magnetic wheel inside the speedo re-calibrated. You might have heard that you can make small changes to the speedo accuracy by using different gears on the speedo cable where it plugs into the transmission.... So i'm not sure if maybe you could use a bigger one of these gears -- to make an 85 mph speedo unit act like a 140 - you'd need a gear nearly twice the size, and i'm not sure if there's that much variety of different gears available. Alternatively there's a company called Redline, who can recal. your speedo for you - they seemed pretty reasonable price wise, but I've just never got round to packing up mine and sending it over there from the UK! They're at http://www.redlineg.com/ I don't think the recal service is mentioned on the site, but if you ring them they definitely do it....



[Modified by theoUK, 10:25 AM 5/4/2004]

JLinCA

Thanks again for the info Theo!!! I was afraid that just changing the face itself wouldn't work for the speedometer. Oh well, I guess Redline it is if I want to do it. I have heard really great things about them.

So what's it like having a Vette in the UK?

theoUK

No worries, my pleasure. I was going to have them do mine at some point - they were very much cheaper than the option of going through Ecklers.. I seem to recall a 140 or 160 mph unit from them (Ecklers) was about 160 bucks vs 40 or 60 odd from Redline. I bought a tacho repair circuit board from them a while back and was very happy with the product and the advice.

Well, owning a vette in the UK can be just about as much fun as you can have with your trousers on!
There are two types of people over here - those that know what a "stingray" is and are totally amazed to see one, and those who don't know what it is, and are still totally amazed to see one! (I know the 80's not a "real" stingray, but you can get away with it fine over here!)
Unfortunately at 15 mpg, and the equivalent of about 6 or 7 bucks a gallon for juice, it can also be pretty expensive! You have to suffer a bit for your obsession :)
Good luck with your speedo and antenna!
:cheers:

JLinCA

$7 a gallon, ouch!! I fixed my antenna today with the repair kit. Overall it went pretty smoothly and I didn't drop the exhaust.

Thanks again for your advice and if there's ever anything I can help you out with don't hesitate to ask.

theoUK

Yeah, Ouch!
Glad you got the antenna fixed, I always quite like getting the "toys" up and running again on the vette. Over the last year I've worked my way through the cruise control, rear defog, antenna, power locks, and the list goes on.....

Cheers!

JLinCA

Mobiux,
I just repaired my antenna with a kit from Ecklers. It really wasn't that difficult.

Desertdawg

Thanks for the advice guys, mine just went fubar on Saturday. I guess it's time to get an order together..... :thumbs:

JLinCA

That repair kit is the way to go, if your motor still works that is. Let me know if I can help.

Desertdawg

Today we put in the rebuild kit, fixed it perfectly.... :cheers:
What a pain getting it in and out of the fender, after I ripped it apart, figuring out how to make it work was a snap....

Thanks again guys..... :thumbs:

JLinCA

:cheers: