I recently addressed this issue on my 89. Due to my careless mistake, I accidentally broke the antenna in the car wash before I put the car away in storage. Luckily, my ribbon cable was not broken, just the metal portion of the mast. This makes the replacement a relatively simple job.

This is what I ended up with after the car wash:



I ordered a replacement mast online for about $25 from antennamastsrus.com.

http://www.antennamastsrus.com/GM/Che ... ette/Corvette%20Years.htm



If you look closely at the antenna hole, it will be a rubber grommet with a metal "nut" on the top. The nut is rounded on the top with two flat sides. They make a specialty socket for removing the antenna nut. Unfortunately, the included tool did not fit the antenna nut on my car. I ended up using a pair of needle nose pliers on the flats. This might cause some scratches on the nut finish, so if this bothers you then try to source the correct socket.

Once the nut is loosened, turn on the radio. This will make the motor run, pushing up the serrated/toothed plastic ribbon (and the antenna in an unbroken mast). Once the cable is pushed out, make note of the direction of the teeth so you can reinstall the new one the same way.

Once out, compare the length of the plastic ribbon:





If the ribbon is not the same length, you likely have a broken piece of ribbon still inside the motor housing. If that's the case, you will need to remove the motor and disassemble the case to remove the pieces.

After the mast is out, you can remove the grounding/mounting sleeve. I was able to use needle nose pliers but I've seen online where other people had to get more aggressive.



Because the mast was snapped/deformed I had to cut it with snips and crush it in to get the remaining portion (with the nut that you reuse) separated.



Take the new grounding sleeve and extend the ears, then you can slide it in the hole for the motor case.



The next part is the trickiest. Take the new mast and push the ribbon in as far as you can. Make the teeth face the same way as the old one when removed. Once inserted, have a helper turn off the radio. In theory, the ribbon will be pulled in by the gears in the motor case. This did not happen for me. What I ended up doing was turning the radio back on a few times while rotating the cable. Then I listened for when the gears were rubbing against the teeth (lightly) so I could determine the correct direction. Once I figured that out, I inserted the cable again and turned the radio off. It sucks the cable in quick, so be prepared. I guided the mast in at the same time. Once it was in and flush, I reinstalled the antenna nut. I also lubed the new plastic ribbon and metal mast with some lithium grease. I tested it a few times and it worked flawlessly.



Total time invested was about 25 minutes. Much faster than pulling the motor which involves removing the wheel well housing and rear interior.

This is a job that the average home tinkerer can do.

Hope that helps someone in the future

Matthew

Good write up. I had to remove my motor and open it up to fish out all the broke pieces. Ya got lucky!

Joel

I did get lucky, Joel. I'd say pulling the motor and opening the case is at least a two hour job.

Taking the motor out is annoying... remove the wheel, remove the inner fender, reach to the bumper, find all the bolts... ugh...

I agree Andy. Sometimes you have to remove the rear hatch plastic cover and carpet to get to the connector, as well. I was happy when I didn't have to do all of that.