The only replacement antenna's I've been able to find for my '56 have a 35 deg. angle (measured) on the grommet and under fender support. The top of my fender is fairly flat, nowhere near a 35 deg angle! I started to wondered if my fender had been re-drilled so I looked at pictures of other trucks. Their fenders all look just like mine. All fairly flat where the antenna goes. Does anyone know what after-market antenna might "Actually" fit a '56 fender?
These links may help with understanding the 35 degree angle. I'm pretty sure the stock antenna was not mounted on the top of the fender, but somewhat around the curve towards the ground. If you don't want to drill another hole, our host also sells a "universal" antenna that is designed to mount on a horizontal surface like your "top of the fender hole". (1947-87) Antenna-Universal Telescopic By the way, the GM part number for the original antenna is 987740.
Thanks for the info. My antenna is mounted in the same place as this one. If the link works? 1956 GMC 100 For Sale With Harley Davidson | GM Authority
If you are talking about the red 56 GMC, that is mounted on the top of the fender and is not original. This picture shows correct antenna (which you already have) and mounting position.
another picture of proper antenna location. Note that it is not on the top of the fender. Reddit - The heart of the internet
The antenna on the Blue truck appears to be in the same location as mine, but if you'll look carefully you'll see the antenna actually doesn't fit very well. It leans in quite a bit. Side views of this truck shows it also leans slightly forward. The scariest term in the English language is "I decided". I decided, I wouldn't have any trouble getting another one when I threw the original one out.
I'm working on getting the GM instruction sheets for the antenna. In the mean time here are some pictures of the sheets and the proper placement of the antenna. Note especially the 4th picture. The antenna mounts on the fender where there is no horizontal flat surface. Your "35 degrees" makes the antenna vertical when installed on this "rolling down" surface. The "long" part of the plastic spacer points towards the ground keeping the antenna vertical, not towards the front of the truck which would lean the antenna back at the top.
I have the template in .pdf form. This forum will not allow uploading of .pdf files. Send me an email at bill_hanlon@comcast.net and I will send the file to you.
PDF files should be able to be uploaded, unless they're very large (over 20 MB). It's working in my testing, but I'd be interested in fixing it if you're not able to upload them.
Oh, the Media tab at the top really only works with PNG/JPEG/GIF images, and certain video types (even if I allow the .pdf extension and upload a PDF anyway, the PDF is neither displayed nor downloadable). It's kind of its own separate thing. But, you can attach a PDF directly to a post in this thread (or any other) with the Upload a File button below the text box (below where you would type a reply to this post).
Thanks Nick. Like my Dad used to say, "When all else fails, look in the trash for the directions." WeDyno: Templet file attached.
