Relocating Radio Antenna

[TimboSHO]

My power antenna recently quit working on my 89, and I'd rather get rid of it entirely and route something inside the car for a cleaner look on the fender. Has anyone done this? I've tried a couple of different antennas (tune trapper and an amplified one) and neither of them will pick most of the radio stations up that my stock antenna that is only half way up will pick up. Should I just rip the stock one out and stick it in the headliner? Any ideas?

 

[rubydist]

The antenna under the roof in the headliner will be pretty much useless - it needs to be outside the metal. The next gen Taurus used a fixed antenna which you can mount on the fender of the 89, iirc and dispense with the power up/down thing.

The only alternative that might work to allow you to eliminate the antenna is if you can buy one of the "in the glass" style antennas aftermarket and put it on the rear window.

 

[RonPorter]

Gen 1s had fixed antennas, the power antenna was an option. Two of my three 89s were fixed antennas.

 

[luigisho]

Agree with rubydist. There were some impregnated or adhered to glass ones but it really is best to get it outside the cabin. Just replace it.

 

[Irish Pride]

Or get satellite radio and be done with it.

 

[TimboSHO]

Ok, I guess I'll just stick with the stock location. The aftermarket ones all have such a variety of ratings, it probably just depends on the car.

My first 89 had a fixed antenna, but maybe I'll just rebuild the one that's in there depending on how ambitious I feel.

And satellite radio doesn't make sense on a car that I drive less than 1k miles a year.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[sperold]

I took a stab at repairing the power aeriel and i bought a complete replacement unit on ebay or RockAuto that was sold as a universal mount product. It turned out to be the very same unit, except the mast location on the fender required a shaped fitting that could not be adapted to the universal unit.

In a second repair effort, I was never successful in pulling the mast outer barrel out of the cast motor housing unit, so even the replacement masts did not help.

It took some effort to find the correct mast as it seems there are a variety that are reputed to fit the bill.

I failed outright and installed a stationary mast.

I was also surprised at how hard it was to access the unit and all the attachment hardware and noticed i could not get the mast to work on the bench but it would work when plugged into the car wiring.

 

[TimboSHO]

Of all of the SHOs I've owned, I've never messed with the power anyenna. There seems to be a lot of info about how to remove or repair, so I'm just hoping it's something simple, otherwise I'll just put a stationary one in.

 

[zoomlater]

Have you considered a new one

http://www.shosource.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_15&products_id=343

They also have ones for the 92 to 95 cars as well

 

[luigisho]

It's easy to remove and replace it. I've had to do it to almost all the SHO's --GenI-III-- I've owned. That shosource one is way worth the price. I don't think I ever got one that cheap and OEM.

 

[TimboSHO]

Have you considered a new one

http://www.shosource.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_15&products_id=343

They also have ones for the 92 to 95 cars as well

It's easy to remove and replace it. I've had to do it to almost all the SHO's --GenI-III-- I've owned. That shosource one is way worth the price. I don't think I ever got one that cheap and OEM.

I've considered it, and as little as I use it I'm sure it would last forever!

 

[DirtSHO]

Does the antenna even attempt to move at all? If the motor is still good most likely you can just replace the mast. The cause of most getting stuck is the plastic teeth on the cable thay pull the mast down break off or get mangled and the motor won't catch the mast at or past a certain point and it will just stop. You can either get a new mast or just break off the interior plastic strip where the teeth are missing from your existing one and reinsert it - although this won't let it fully extend you still get signal and it will go down all the way at least.

The way to eject the mast is simple and you don't even need to get into the fender. First you remove the castle nut with the 4 notches at the base of the antenna (I use 2 flat head screwdrivers to turn it). Then you go in the car and turn on the radio or hit the button to extend the antenna and it will shoot right out. Then you pull the rest of the mast and cable from the hole. If you keep cycling the motor you will eventually eject the broken teeth or they'll all fall to the bottom. Then you can reinsert the cable and mast and then turn off the radio or use the button again to pull it all the way back in. After that you put the but back on and tighten it down to lock it back into place.

 

[luigisho]

OR... you spend $60 and get a whole new one and slap it in.

 

[DirtSHO]

OR... you spend $60 and get a whole new one and slap it in.

This would normally be my recommendation but boy is it a pain in the ass to get in there. Luckily only once out of the five times I've had to do a fix like this I actually needed a new motor. 3 I was able to recycle the mast and the other one I was able to eject a good one with all the teeth out of a junkyard Sable and swap it.

 

[sperold]

OR... you spend $60 and get a whole new one and slap it in.

Wow, 10 years ago I payed far more than that for the universal model that I never could convert, and I must have bought 4 mast systems over the years for a variety of SHOs, and they totalled more than that figure.

That is an awesome value.

In my case, I had the front fender removed in preparation of a paint job, and when I could not solve the mast problem, I converted over to the standard mast. The build sheet for 1990 claims it was an over $100.00 option that year; and the tinting of the windows was a whopping $400.00 (which now has a purple tinge to it).

At the time, there were no power antennaes available at any price.

Great opportunity. I am even considering converting back to power!

 

[josh clayton]

Where did you find your build sheet in your sho

 

[sperold]

I found 2 report sheets, one was in the underneath spring area of the back seat bottom, and the other was in the dash where the radio was located. Both were found by accident while doing other things.

The interesting document was a sales document from the dealership which shows the predatory pricing in Canada:
the base SHO was $28,356.00
the AC was $184.00, and I am pretty sure it was part of the base package
high level audio was $486.00
antennae was $99.00
Clear coat paint was $269.00
and the tinted windows were $400.00

This yielded a final price of $29,794.00 for a car with no sunroof.

 

[zoomlater]

This is a pretty good deal for new antenna, Black Friday Sale

http://www.shosource.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=343

 

[SHOdded]

Wait ... how come this sale isn't advertised on this forum? All on FB now?

 

[zoomlater]

Here's the link, not sure why it didn't make it here

http://www.shosource.com/catalog/specials.php