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'89 Corolla SR5 manual antenna mast repair (will this work?)

Hi guys, The antenna mast on my '89 Corolla SR5 got bent and broken off during a recent blizzard in Boston (my bad for not retracting it before the storm came). Anyhow, the way it broken, there's about 4 inches sticking out of the car (and about 2 feet that broke off). It's a manual antenna. The antenna retracts into the pillar/frame holding the left side of the windshield. It does not telescope (it's still 2 feet long when it's retracted inside the car). Before it was broken, even when retracted, it got reasonable reception. As it's broken now, FM reception is okay but AM reception is staticky. My goal's to rejoin the 2 broken pieces and leave them retracted [permanently] into the car, so that I can get AM reception on AM 1030 for traffic reports.

I'm hoping not to putz around with the cable that's hooked up to the existing stump of the antenna mast, hence, am trying to patch things up rather than replace the mast. I cut 6 inches of the straight part of a clothes hanger, and by inserting a few inches into both ends of the antenna mast, can bridge them together. I've straightened out the old stump enough so that it can retract into the car.

My original plan was to superglue the metal clotheshanger piece into the 2 pieces of mast, retract this whole thing into the car, and leave it this way.

(I did test, and yes, with this whole assembly outside the car, reception is much better)

I realized that there's a smooth white plastic tube lining the inside of the antenna, a lot like a drinking straw. The metal antenna can slide freely against the tube. What is the purpose of this tube? If I glue the clotheshangerwire into the plastic tube, then I need to glue the plastic tube to the metal of the antenna mast to keep the 2 metal halves from sliding apart.

Again, my basic question is if the plastic tube inside this manual antenna serves any purpose. The downside to my glueing it to the antenna mast metal would be that the plastic and the metal would no longer be able to freely slide against one another. For example,would this somehow interfere with my retracting the mast into the car?

Appreciate your thoughts, John '89 Corolla SR5 143k

Reply to
jyang1
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Just a guess, but the white tube probably reduces the amount of water that can seep into the mast. If the hollow mast fills with water, it would act like a frozen pipe and burst.

There are 1 or 2 screws holding the black plastic piece where the mast feeds into the windshield pillar. Remove the screws and you should be able to pull the mast out a little to see what is going on in there.

The problem with superglue is that it does not last long in a situation where it flexes. I would use either Household Goop or Automotive Goop, which is like silicone caulk, Epoxy, which requires mixing, or Devcon, which also requires mixing. You will have much better results with one of these cements than with superglue.

As far as replacing the mast assembly, the hardest part is connecting the coaxial cable to the back of the radio. If you can get to the back of the radio, then replacing the mast is easy. Just remove the old mast and snake the new coax through the hole in the pillar and pull it out from underneath and snake it to the back of the radio.

Reply to
Ray O

Superglue, crazyglue, or any brand Cyanoacrlate are water soluble and will likely fail in days. An anaerobic (loctite) would be better.

Reply to
tomcas

Hi guys, Many thanks for your help. I will stay away from Superglue, and will give Silicone (outdoor kind) a shot since I already have some at home.

Question: it'll be below-freezing the entire week in Boston. Any idea if Silicone can cure below 32F? The package says to use above 40F but I don't know how strict that is.

Thanks, John

Reply to
jyang1

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