Question for Evan and the other guys/gals on the list that are into modernizing their rides. I would like to install an antenna on my '57 GMC that raises and lowers with a signal from my radio. I want to install it to come out of the body just behind the driver's door just below window level. The sheet metal in the area has a curve to it and is at an approximate 45 degree angle. I don't want to french the antenna mount, but I would like a fairly small (quarter-size or less) size showing from the outside when the antenna is retracted. Those of you who do this kind of work probably have a favorite part that you use. Please share your knowledge.
Power Antenna Harada , the Japanese made ones . cheap and durable , expect years of service . Remember to wipe the mast clean monthly and lubricate with a cloth soaked in silicone , wear rubber gloves as silicone is bad for humans .
If you aren't frenching it, I would recommend using the orig. mount in the top of the cowl. The antennas all have a kind of ball mount that will be auite noticable. You can also french without a big pipe, you can make the antenna tip sit flush with the body when retracted.
Thanks for the hints guys. Nate: At first Google, the Harada motorized antennas I'm finding all seem to be for specific cars and are all $85+. I'm concerned that the mounting arrangement where the top of the antenna goes through the sheet meteal won't allow the steep slope in the area I want to use. I wouldn't mind spending the $85 if I knew it would do the job.
Bill, American cars in the early to mid-seventies, especially luxury models, used power antennas where the top of the mast tube nut was almost flush with the sheet metal surface. A problem, but not unsolvable, is mounting on a sloped surface. I would use a piece of aluminum bar stock that is enough bigger in diameter than the OD of the tube so you can bore a hole that is a snug fit to the tube and also turn an 1/8" off the lower part of it so's to leave small flange on top that is thick enough to cut at the same angle as the mounting surface. The bottom of the flange will need to be cut at the correct angle. All the support mounting would need to be at the bottom and part way up the tube since the new nut is just a slip fit onto the top of the tube. You can't have it threaded because you can't continue to turn the nut once the low side contacts the sloped sheet metal. The exception is if you have room to turn the whole unit then a threaded nut could be held in place but there's usually not this much room. Here's a shot of one these "flush mount antennas" on a 73 T-Bird.
Harada Antennas Be glad you don't use hirschmann German ones like I do . Anyways , look in your local Pick-A-Part junkyard as the young folks buy them like crazy for their Rice Rockets and then simply walk away after the inevitable crash... Under $20 anywhwere , _do_ test it before paying for it . I also like the Caddy flushmount antennas , they're really expen$ive new but loads of late 70's through 80's Caddys are being scrapped as geezers like me , are no longer using them .
