Antenna Removal

Does anyone know the best way of unscrewing the antenna tip and the plastic nut at the quarter without damaging either or the mast itself? I am having a hard time with the plastic nut since it is deep and appears rounded off/chewed up from a previous attempt to remove. Any ideas, is there a special tool?

Thanks!

You don't unscrew the mast with the antenna in the car, you remove the antenna first.  It pulls through the rubber grommet once you remove the antenna bracket bolt, electrical connection and drain tube.  Once you remove the antenna from the car, you'll see there are about 5 or 6 clips that hold the two halves of the antenna housing together.  There are also 3 or 4 rivets that must be drilled out.  Once you have it apart, you can remove the mast.  Usually the nylon cord that moves the mast up and down breaks.

http://www.antennamastsrus.com/GM/Buick/Riviera/Riviera%201995-1999.htm

....or maybe hit the nearest junkyard and get another / newer one. It'll take you 60 seconds to remove one.

LARRY70GS wrote:

You don't unscrew the mast with the antenna in the car, you remove the antenna first.  It pulls through the rubber grommet once you remove the antenna bracket bolt, electrical connection and drain tube.  Once you remove the antenna from the car, you'll see there are about 5 or 6 clips that hold the two halves of the antenna housing together.  There are also 3 or 4 rivets that must be drilled out.  Once you have it apart, you can remove the mast.  Usually the nylon cord that moves the mast up and down breaks.

http://www.antennamastsrus.com/GM/Buick/Riviera/Riviera%201995-1999.htm

...correct - assuming - it's the OE antenna.  

The good-fitting replacement Metra PW-22 power antenna has a top mount that screws in against a stamped metal mount that pivots to match the fender angle.   You have to open the trunk and hold the base steady to unscrew the top chrome plated barrel nut, and the stamped metal mount **just** fits the edges of the hole. For this one you have to remove it to do a mast replacement as well.

I had one of these, it worked OK, but Ed Morad parted out some late '90s GM cars some years ago and I bought an OE antenna from him. If you can keep them clean they last and last. Just wipe off the mast. Don't oil it, maybe wipe the mast with a film of silicone oil on a rag -- you don't want dirt, road salt/dust etc. to stick to the mast. Clean is most important.

Thank you all for your help! I should have been more specific, I needed to swap out my old OEM antenna with another OEM that I got from an auto recycler for my 97 Riv. Can't believe how easy it was, glad I asked! Might send my old one to Barney Eaton and have it rebuilt. The one from the auto recycler was $30 but not in great shape. It works and will do for now.

urbanski_m wrote:

Thank you all for your help!  I should have been more specific, I needed to swap out my old OEM antenna with another OEM that I got from an auto recycler for my 97 Riv.  Can't believe how easy it was, glad I asked!  Might send my old one to Barney Eaton and have it rebuilt.  The one from the auto recycler was $30 but not in great shape.  It works and will do for now.

If the problem with the replacement antenna from the recycler was that the staff is dinged up, if you hunt around you should find new replacement staffs from ACDelco. Eaton's approach (replace nylon wire with stainless cable) sounds fine as long as the cable does not kink. Follow his directions for installing and calibrating the antenna **scrupulously**.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t12124-electric-antenna-repair

Barney Eaton posted repair guidance in this Reatta newsleter:

http://www.reatta.org/newsletters/2011_Winter_Newsletter.pdf