Power antenna on '63--check connections?

[Adambravo]

Well, when I first got my Riv about two and a half years ago, the power antenna worked; recently, it stopped going down, and now it goes neither up nor down. A friend suggested checking the connections at the switch, but I'm trying to figure out how best to get at it; it doesn't look reachable under the hood. If I remove the front passenger side wheel, will I be able to access it? Thanks in advance (and other suggestions welcome)...

[RivNut]

The switch is under the dash pad, not around the motor. To check it you'll need to drop the panel with all of the a/c controls mounted to it. It might be simpler to remove the dash pad and work from above - four screws and pull it toward you.

If it worked, then quit, I'd say it's probably the motor. The antenna itself is hard wired so pulling it to check the switch won't work. There is a panel in the right front wheel well that will let you drop the antenna. You could drop it and bench test the antenna to see if it's working or not. If it is, then go after the wiring. If it's not, you can check the switch with a test light - hold the test light with the probe in one of the two terminals; have someone work the switch. The antenna body is the ground, you'll need to ground your test light in the same way. Then put the probe in the other terminal and repeat. If your test light lights in both terminals your switch is good not a lot can go wrong with this kind of switch unless you live somewhere where corrosion is a problem. It could be corrosion in the connector from the wiring harness to the leads from the motor. I don't remember if they're inside the fender well or inside the engine compartment.

If the antenna proves to be the problem, Barney Eaton over on the Reatta site repairs them. His AACA forum handle is Barney Eaton.

Ed

Edited June 4, 2013 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Adambravo]

Thanks. As I had to remove the dash pad to get the glovebox door open, that's not as complex as I feared...