We began by safely raising...
We began by safely raising the car on jackstands and removing themuffler and tailpipe system on the driver side. Our car is equipped witha Flowmaster exhaust system, so it came apart differently from thefactory unit. A Corvette assembly manual can be useful for thisprocedure if you have a stock system in place.
It starts as an irritating whirring noise you can't seem to locate. Thenthe radio reception doesn't seem quite right. That radio station youcould pick up easily last week is now fuzzy and filled with static. Infact, half of the stations you like aren't coming in clearly. Is it asign of the apocalypse? No--your radio antenna has decided to staytucked inside its tight fiberglass enclosure. Or, worse yet, it won't godown and it's killing the battery trying to do its job. Big problem?Yep--definitely not good.
In reality, the electric power antennas usedon C4 ('84-'96) Corvettes were notorious for giving up the ghost afterabout 10 years of service. That means a lot of antenna problems areplaguing Corvette owners all across the land. The fix? A new ZipProducts power antenna will fix the problem pronto.
Our antenna had been disconnected...
Our antenna had been disconnected because of an internal short. Note theaftermarket wire splices and the mounting position of the attachmentbracket.
Zip Products offer afull line of Corvette power antennas for '84-'96 Corvettes under avariety of different part numbers. For our '86, (without the CB antennaoption) we ordered PN A-314. The part comes complete with the antennaand mast, as well as the motor and plug in that attaches directly to thefactory-wiring loom.
When we purchased our '86 Corvette, the antenna wasnot operational (it had been disconnected from the wiring harness) andlooked like a fixed mast antenna, stuck in a sort of "semi-up" position.When we reattached the disconnected wires, we discovered why the antennahad been disconnected--it ran constantly. On top of that, it onlyextended the antenna and never let it go back down.
With a little helpfrom our friends, the problem was solved. Read along and see how weregained our signal.
 As you can see from this photo,...  As you can see from this photo, the bracket is the main attachment pointof the antenna. This bracket must be transferred to the new Zip Productsantenna. |  The bolt at the back of the...  The bolt at the back of the bracket must be reused. Reverse the bracketinstallation and reattach the wiring when installing the new antenna. |  The Zip Products unit has...  The Zip Products unit has new and improved internal components, makingit more durable than the original factory unit. |