'85 Eldorado Antenna - Need repair shop recommendation

[jgalin]

I just purchased a 1985 Eldorado convertible and the antenna is stuck in the up position.  Looking for someone who can remove and repair in the Chicago area.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!  Jim

[J. Russo]

If you don't find anyone in that area, there's a member in the Louisville, KY area that repaired my '41 antenna.

[eldofever58]

Can you get the antenna to collapse at all by hand? The problem is the antenna assembly must be snaked out from the inner fender through an opening behind the RH hood hinge (yes, the hinge must be removed). If not, you'll need to decide if you can live with it up, vs. cutting it off after sourcing a donor. 

Repair is straightforward, I have some tips on my site here: https://ht4100.com/techinfo.html#antenna

[jgalin]

Thanks much for the very helpful reply.  The antenna would not collapse by hand so I cut the mast and pushed the rest of it just below the decorative escutcheon plate on the fender. I had read that the hinge needed to be removed to access the assembly.  The repair tips are great but I am not sure I want to tackle this.   Ideally, I'd like to find someone nearby that would do the install. For now I plan to just use the cassette player for music and live without the antenna. Why did GM make this fix so difficult? Your tech tips site is amazing.  Thanks for the link!

[smokuspollutus]

I have done many of these, most of the times by myself. Don't let the hood hinge scare you. Just scribe the bolts before removal, get a couple of thick towels and a broomstick or other prop rod to hold the hood more or less in place. The escutcheon on the fender does not need to be removed on an '85 to get the unit out. I think that was a leftover from the early 80s they forgot to omit when they changed the bezel stye to the pop in.

Barney Eaton in Texas will rebuild these via mail with a metal impregnated cable for a reasonable price. You can look him up for contact. They are easy to do yourself (with the standard non-metalized cable) if the cable has just gotten brittle and broken. However, if the mast is slightly kinked and the extra drag is what's snapped the cable (most likely), you'll want to get a pro like Barney to straighten it out perfectly.

[jgalin]

Thanks.  I appreciate the vote of confidence when it comes to doing this myself.  The mast is toast, so I either need a new insert for the existing motor or I buy an entirely new assembly.

[cadillactim]

Sent you a PM.

Tim