C2 Power antenna rebuild

[Dave K.]

My 66 power antenna needs to be rebuilt. I have the original core and to be honest, I haven't checked to see if the motor runs yet. Lower mast section is OK but remaining upper mast section needs replaced. I know that OEM Glass can repair but at $400 this seems high. Clocks by Roger advertises for $600 and I won't use him any ways.

Is there any other rebuilder out there? I want show quality rebuild.

How difficult is a home rebuild? Are parts available? Anyone ever attempt this? I read that the Restorer - Summer 2000 has an article on the subject.

Regards,
Dave Kitch
33108

[Mike Geary]

Re: C2 Power antenna rebuild

Dave:

Yes, the $400 that Dale Smith charges seems high initially. But did you ever stop to think what his tooling investment must have been to replicate the mast segments? And the spiral wound cable that he had to develop a source for.

This development expense is not trivial. And since his potential market is limited to '65-'66 cars, it's just a matter of needing to amortize the nonrecurring costs over a fairly small base.

Frankly, I'm glad that Dale still offers this service. Without him, I don't know where we'd turn.

I do wish he'd offer a do-it-yourself kit consisting of the mast assembly and cable. With those parts, the restoration is fairly simple and well-documented in prior Restorer articles.

Mike

[William C.]

Re: C2 Power antenna rebuild

I remember when Dale was just starting to do the research on rebuilding the antennas. I was trying to find out info on the original maker of the unit, who has long since gone out of business. I send mine to him, there's some things I'm just too old to have to start learing from scratch on. The one in my '65 Fueler has been working since the car was PV'd in '87 or so. I'd go with the proven source, especially if you have undercar exhaust.

[Dave M.]

Re: C2 Power antenna rebuild

OEM does an excellent job, with the added benefit of having one fine gentleman in Dale. You get what you pay for in life. When you go with OEM to have your power antenna rebuilt, you'll be a satisfied customer.