antennas? [1989]

[Ike Clanton]

A picture would be handy, but if it is like I'm remembering you just manhandle the last bit of base out, rig up the new stuff where the nut holds in the final/biggest section, and install that.

Basically you take what you've got and make something work, which is what I always did.

[gadget73]

if i remember right, you remove the round nut with the 2 flats, and that should allow the bit of the base mast to just pull out.

[BerniniCaCO3]

no, unfortunately...
What I found was a 14mm hex nut, maybe 1/2" deep, and I got that out.
I still have teh base stuck in the motor, and there's just a round black grommet that's probably simply part of teh housing itself, no sign of a flat spot to grip, and absolutely no room to grip it if I wanted.

Just tug harder at teh base stub...??

[BerniniCaCO3]

yup! Just tug harder at the base stub, it came out.
The made-in-china replacement was not a perfect match, but it's functional, which is more than can be said for the original crimped one.
I'd have been happier with a perfect junkyard match.

[sly]

if it works... go with it. Now I have something to go by if/when I replace mine.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Remind me, I'll do a little write up tomorrow. Gotta get this car on the road toNIGHT!

[sxcpotatoes]

Is the mast the same height as the stock, factory power antenna? I gotta replace one of mine soon, so I was just wondering, most of the other replacements I've seen are universal crap and seem like they'd be a bit short.

[gadget73]

NOS ones appear on ebay from time to time. I have one that I got for under 20 bucks. be patient.

[BerniniCaCO3]

the made in china mast that I bought, looking for "1989 grand marquis mast," was NOT a perfect replacement.
We were under time constraints before this car left my care, so I bought it, hoping it would fit. It works, but I would get an unbent junkyard mast or a NOS if I'd had the time to wait for one.
Or I could have spent $65 on the entire unit, then just recovered the mast.

It might be a little short at full height. It also was too narrow in diameter at the base, so I had to reuse the stub of the original mast so it wouldn't pop out!
It also retracts too far before bottoming out; disappearing a couple inches into the hole.
But it works otherwise, just not 100% satisfactory for that oem look. Still much better than a mast about to fall off the car on the next highway trip!


Alright, quick tutorial:
There's a large chrome nut that simply has 4 notches in it.
I took a flathead screwdriver, set it into one of the notches, and took a mallet and tapped it counterclockwise to back it out. I'm sure ford has a special ford tool; f*ck that.
The egg-shaped base under this nut came right off; it had 3 cast posts just to position it but only the 4-notched nut secured it.

Now the only thing holding the antenna in is a 15mm nut down in that hole.
My antenna was crimped and could not be lowered, so what I did was snap it off at the crimp, and run the antenna up all the way to get it free.
The antenna operates with a cogged plastic wire, and the motor just spins with a toothed gear. The plastic is stiff enough to drive the antenna up, and pull it down. If there's nothing retaining the antenna-- i.e, if you get the 15mm nut off, OR if you snap off the main length of teh antenna like I did, you can just run the motor until it spits out the entire length of plastic wire.

Now I was left with a part of the lowermost segment, where I snapped it off where it was already bent, and I had to get this 15mm nut off. The nut would not come up past the flattened crimp, so the next job was to use a razorsaw (fine toothed hacksaw would be fine) and saw it off where it was still round, being neat and taking care not to smoosh it in the least. I also took a file to deburr it.

I found that my Wright-brand 15mm deep socket was too fat to fit in the hole, but another fit fine-- if you've got a cruder, fatter socket you might run into the same. But even harbor freight makes reasonably thin-walled sockets these days, so maybe you won't. I backed it out, and had to grip it with pliers and/or pry it out with a small screwdriver to persuade it to come out. You can also put a torque on it with the socket, maybe put some strip caulk into the socket, to help pull the nut out and over the stub of the antenna. This is why it's important to saw it gently and cleanly; any bit out-of-round and the nut might not come off.

Now the stub of antenna can just come out. I needed needlenose vise grips, pinching across the wall of the stub, to yank it out; it was a bit frozen. But there's nothing left holding it in once that nut is out, you just need to work it.

I needed to reuse the lowermost stub, as it turned out, to make up for a deficiency in OD with the new mast, that was not NOS true OEM, but a chinese replacement that was supposed to fit from some company called antennax.
As already mentioned, it descends too low, may not go quite as high, and I did have to reuse the portion of the original mast... but it otherwise works fine, going up and down smoothly and does not wobble at all.
You need to push the plastic wire pretty deep while a helper runs the motor downwards, before it starts to grab. Then lower it all the way, so you can get the retaining nut back into place and torque it down. Then simply replace the egg-shaped cover and the top nut and you're done!

[gadget73]

Oh yours doesn't use the round bezel thing with the two flats as a retainer? maybe thats a rear deck Lincoln antenna thing. I know the Ford/merc antennas are a fair bit different than the Lincoln ones but I've never studied either one close enough to know quite where the differences are.

[marquisman]

yea, lincoln ones seem to be different and better.