Well, after lots of good pointers from the forum, I was able to tear into my 91 FJ80 power antenna project today again. I got it out of the fender after taking the radio out and fishing the antenna cable out a bit. It only took me a month to get this far.
The motor assembly comes out but takes a little bit of twisting and spinning to get out of the fender.
Once I had it out on a board under the hood I stopped to order the mast with nylon cable and drum. I dissembled the drum/winding mechanism that holds the wound up cable to find a very short broken cable left attached to the drum.
The new cable had to be pushed down into the assembly and did not go in the hole easily. I gently twisted and removed the tube to clean and ease the insertion process. I found remnants of a toothpick in there which must indicated some other tech replaced it at some point and used a toothpick to guide the cable in.
I cleaned the old grease up a bit and sprayed silicon spray lub on most parts. Attaching the new nylon cable to the drum is a nightmare. I finally filed a pointed end and a small groove at the end of the plain nylon cable to ease the friction/ziptie-like mechanism to get it to fit. The nylon cable is NOT very pliable but it does bend/curve enough to go into the drum and attach.
The part itself appears to be a reproduction and does not fit exactly right. The screw holes did not line up exactly, but I made it work. I got it from an on-line Cruiser supply house and relied upon there "expertise." The phone rep told me to just stick it in the fender hole and the teeth would grab it. WRONG. I explained the early models were not set up that way. He disagreed. When the part came it was indeed the smooth cable type so I think it all worked out. He just was not knowledgeable. The only item is that the base of the mast is slightly different than the original. I plan to test it tomorrow when I temporarily reinstall the dash faceplate to be able to move the antenna mast switch up and down.
WISH ME LUCK
RKTINC
The motor assembly comes out but takes a little bit of twisting and spinning to get out of the fender.
Once I had it out on a board under the hood I stopped to order the mast with nylon cable and drum. I dissembled the drum/winding mechanism that holds the wound up cable to find a very short broken cable left attached to the drum.
The new cable had to be pushed down into the assembly and did not go in the hole easily. I gently twisted and removed the tube to clean and ease the insertion process. I found remnants of a toothpick in there which must indicated some other tech replaced it at some point and used a toothpick to guide the cable in.
I cleaned the old grease up a bit and sprayed silicon spray lub on most parts. Attaching the new nylon cable to the drum is a nightmare. I finally filed a pointed end and a small groove at the end of the plain nylon cable to ease the friction/ziptie-like mechanism to get it to fit. The nylon cable is NOT very pliable but it does bend/curve enough to go into the drum and attach.
The part itself appears to be a reproduction and does not fit exactly right. The screw holes did not line up exactly, but I made it work. I got it from an on-line Cruiser supply house and relied upon there "expertise." The phone rep told me to just stick it in the fender hole and the teeth would grab it. WRONG. I explained the early models were not set up that way. He disagreed. When the part came it was indeed the smooth cable type so I think it all worked out. He just was not knowledgeable. The only item is that the base of the mast is slightly different than the original. I plan to test it tomorrow when I temporarily reinstall the dash faceplate to be able to move the antenna mast switch up and down.
WISH ME LUCK
RKTINC
