adding an old school antenna

[lostforawhile]

I got rid of the roof antenna years ago, I had made a plate to fit in the hole, and it was welded in, whoever heard of making a radio antenna horizontal anyway? I finally found one I like at the yard,three bucks, the issue was the screw holding the base to the antenna top was frozen beyond removal, The Z car itself was rusted beyond saving, so I just knocked a hole in the rusted quarter panel and cut the antenna out,complete with sheet metal. I was able to remove the top of the antenna, but the bottom part of the bolt simply wasn't going to come out. I found a rubber fender Antenna at non advanced auto farts, and decided to modify the base to fit.





this is whats left of the original base after a serious effort to remove the remains of the bolt,after more then 30 years it's simply never coming out again



the antenna base I found had a stud instead of a threaded hole, the first thing to do was grind off the stud



both bases next to each other

[lostforawhile]

In order to center the drill bit perfectly in the center of the base, I had to make a drill jig first

the first thing to do was to drill the hole that fit over the base in a piece of 1/2 inch rod





center drilling for the #21 bit for drilling the center of the base



drilling the #21 pilot hole for the drill bit



sawing off the excess rod on the 'rollin saw



drilling the end of the antenna base with the new drill guide



tapping the new base



base now has internal threads instead of an external stud

[lostforawhile]

The next step is to make the spacer to allow the antenna to be tightened up in place, the new base had much longer threads then the original

facing a piece of aluminum for the spacer

sawing off the excess material




drilling the holes in the spacer

[lostforawhile]

I only spent 30 minutes looking for my big chuck, I hate when that happens



facing the other end


and the entire piece, the spacer goes on the inner body side, the gasket off of the cheap chinese antenna even fit the antenna base, so I got a brand new gasket to go with it.



next step to find my sheet metal die punch and figure out exactly where to mount this

[Dr_Snooz]

That's awesome!

[lostforawhile]

A lot of work but worth the effort, this is what it's all about, finding some part in a yard ,than spending a ton of time fixing something that's not worth anything,just to make it the way you want it. It would have been melted down as scrap metal with the rusted out Z, but I spent a ridiculous amount of time, and a little bit of blood cutting it out of the car, then a bunch of time making another base to fix what couldn't be fixed. Now I have the look of the antenna that I wanted.

[mykwikcoupe]

nice. Amazing what can be built from scratch.

[DBMaster]

Lost would be one of my picks if I ever assembled my own "A-Team." LOL!

[obdriver6]

That's pretty cool!

[lostforawhile]

when I get the audio system wired I'll see what kind of reception I get, I'll bet it's better then a lot of newer style antennas, I do listen to broadcast radio a lot, and in the area where I live a good antenna is a necessity

[import racer]

Hey lost have you ever tried the hidden antennas or those shark fin ones.I need one for mine and want to know if they work as good as they say.

[lostforawhile]

Hey lost have you ever tried the hidden antennas or those shark fin ones.I need one for mine and want to know if they work as good as they say.

Never tried one I really don't have an. Opinion on one

[DBMaster]

I had a 72 Pontiac that had one of those antennas made of fine wire sandwiched between the layers of windshield glass. I ended up adding a totally old-school fender mounted antenna for good FM reception. I'll bet that the current generation of windshield antennas are much better. I would try to go to something more modern, rather than less. Though, when my power antenna's plastic strip finally broke a couple of years ago I replaced it with a manual version. Horizontal or not, the reception is fine. Worrying over something like this might be considered too much attention to detail, which I know a lot about, guys. Shark fin, stub, antique Z-car, whatever. An antenna that works is what you want.

[lostforawhile]

I had a 72 Pontiac that had one of those antennas made of fine wire sandwiched between the layers of windshield glass. I ended up adding a totally old-school fender mounted antenna for good FM reception. I'll bet that the current generation of windshield antennas are much better. I would try to go to something more modern, rather than less. Though, when my power antenna's plastic strip finally broke a couple of years ago I replaced it with a manual version. Horizontal or not, the reception is fine. Worrying over something like this might be considered too much attention to detail, which I know a lot about, guys. Shark fin, stub, antique Z-car, whatever. An antenna that works is what you want.

It wasn't just reception, I like the way these antenna look, I wanted a particular look and I looked at a lot of different ideas over the years. If you have an idea in your head of what you want,when you run across a part that matches your idea, you just do whatever it takes to make it work, It's a vintage look popular in the 70's,80's and suits the car.

[import racer]

Guess I could go with one of the short rubber ones on the trunk lid.

[lostforawhile]

Guess I could go with one of the short rubber ones on the trunk lid.

I remember these antenna on a lot of cars in the 70's and 80's, it might have been a local thing, but it's something I grew up with, you used to be able to buy the nice ones like this at K-fart,of course they sold CB radios ad eight track players too, I've been keeping my eye out for a stainless one like it for a while, and they all seem to have vanished. I found a cheap chinese knockoff like it, but the quality was terrible

[Vanilla Sky]

I think this is my favorite project of yours to be honest. It really fits well with the theme of the car. Using a lathe is always a bonus, too.

[pickupman6]

Lost would be one of my picks if I ever assembled my own "A-Team." LOL!

Roflol, where is the "like" button.
Lookin good mr tim