Antenna restoration and other misc. stereo fixes.

[v12horse]

About a year ago my antenna stopped retracting, but the motor was still working. I decided that I was going to buy one of those oem replacement masts that have been offered on ebay. I bought it and I am really pleased with the quality and originality. I took off some of the panels to get to the antenna unit and I found that it was covered with Zbart. After disassembling the unit, I found that it had old grease and corrosion everywhere. It would be a lot easier to just buy a new antenna, but I am going to restore the one I have. Has anyone done this before? If anybody has any experience, please chime in here. I have not taken it apart completely, but I am going to tomorrow. To clean the metal parts I am going to soak them in CLR as I have had good luck with that product before.

I also noticed how wimpy the stock speaker bracket and speaker was. I am not going to go outrageous with the stereo system, but I was thinking of just getting a more substantial bracket and a better speaker because I do have a pretty nice Alpine CD deck. Does anyone have the speaker bracket from Classic Datsun Motorsport? I emailed Mark about it so I should get some information soon.

http://www.classicdatsun.com/new/240Z.html

Anyways, I will post some pictures and some info on restoring the antenna unit.

Regards,

Ben

[Bambikiller240]

I wish I had bought one of those masts, I could use one. Haven't seen them o eBay for some time now. Do you remember the seller's eBay ID?

Ben, I see you have a title now. What's the story behind it?

[v12horse]

You should buy one of these masts. Here is one that is on ebay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7974682068&category=38655

I changed my title to the lone potter as I recently took up the hobby of pottery. I have fallen in love with making ceramic bowls, cups, and jars that I thought it would be fitting to incorporate it into my title.

[Bambikiller240]

Thanks for the link. I'll watch and see how it goes.

[dogma420]

Is the end of the antenna (the chrome tip) shaped correctly?

[ChrisA]

Is the end of the antenna (the chrome tip) shaped correctly?

That's a good point, not that it would matter to me if I needed one but my stock antenna tip is bullet shaped. I wonder if the ebay item is a supersession of the factory part? Were there differences between the years?

Thanks Ben for the link to that.

Chris

[v12horse]

Hi Chris, I think the bullet style tip is for the earlier cars. 70-72? I am not sure on that though. In the picture you can see my oem one next to the packaged oem replacement mast.

Ben

[v12horse]

In the begining I was just planning to replace the mast, but looking at the antenna unit, I am restoring the whole thing. The motor is in good shape, but the housing is corroded quite badly. I have been chipping away at the stuff for the last hour. I will post pics of it later. Here are some pictures of how it looked before. The tar on it is from the ZBart. This is one of the downsides to that sealer. I am going to clean the whole thing inside and out. Does anyone recommend a good lubricant for the moving parts?

Thanks in advance,

Ben

[ChrisA]

Does anyone recommend a good lubricant for the moving parts?

Ben, I would say you'd need something somewhat resistant to moisture as the rain will get down in there. Unless you dont drive it in the rain!!

I wonder if a good lithium base grease would work. Maybe Lubriplate #105. Supposed to be good for hinges, locks and latches. And has anti-wear and anti-seize compounds. And I would guess if its good for hinges it must not run off or slide off the contact point.

Good luck with the project,

Chris

[abas]

I am going to clean the whole thing inside and out. Does anyone recommend a good lubricant for the moving parts?

Ben

Ben

I took the motor on mine apart recently and it had been lubricated inside with grey molybdenum based grease, and was still moving freely after at least 15 years.

Would it be worth getting the whole housing gently bead blasted to get all the crap and corrosion off it?.

hope it helps

Andrew

[v12horse]

Thanks guys for the lubricant recommendations everyone.

Andrew, the light bead blasting would have been a lot faster and thourough, but I have cleaned it up quite nicely with a knife and flat head screw driver. I am going to use some chemicals to get all the old sludge off.

p.s. Look at the numbers, it appears to be the date. If so, they have the exact day of manufacture too.

[mlc240z]

the last oem mast i saw on ebay went for $38.51.

mine still works, but has a few dings that slightly affect operation. i was thinking about buying a generic mast with the same outer dimensions to use as a replacement since the oem's are no longer available direct from the mfgr. they apparently aren't even available from oem mfgrs like horada either.

the last time i talked with MSA, they said they were looking into another supplier for the masts, so i guess they are responding to the demand for this part.

i have a feeling you could use a generic and just cut the nylon stepped tape to the proper length, maybe? but i still need to measure the outer diameter and length.

bart