Tim, I'd have to agree with Jeff's findings. You’ve seen the kind of care I take in my work so I think you will understand that I’m not a novice when it comes to working with my hands.
I bought one of those antennas from Classic because it did look like the original antenna on the out side, but I gotta say, it ranks up there as one of the bigger disappointments of this restoration, and there have been many.
For the money I laid out I certainly expected a better copy of the original. You can still buy a blister pack antenna at your local auto parts store that’s made just as well as these are, in fact I just bought several that I use for other radio work that I’m doing.
The inner angled die cast bushing was the wrong angle and it had the antenna pointing out to the side. Luckily I have a mill and lathe and was able to make a new one to get the antenna to sit vertical. The plastic external finish nut would not start on the thread properly and I must have spent an hour just trying to get it started with out stripping it. Once I did get it to start it only went on a few threads before it stopped against the end of the housing leaving a large gap between it and the plastic angled grommet. I had to machine the inside counter bore so it would close the gap.
The bottom inside bracket that Jeff mentioned is exactly that, a poor attempt to secure the bottom of the antenna, which needs to be quite ridged when you have six foot of mast blowing in the wind. I ended up making a new bracket that lined up properly and secured the bottom of the antenna housing much better.
The cable socket was potted into the side of the housing with silicone and that was loose and I had to dig it all out and re-pot with fresh silicone.
A very poorly made product, but with no other alternatives out there, I guess we are stuck with this crap.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
