Has anyone added a power antenna to an A-body? I recently replaced one on my older son's '96 Firebird Formula, and it wasn't that difficult. I got to thinking about how to install one on my younger son's '74 Dart Sport. I think that would be a nice touch.

Just wondering,
Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

i dont think it would be difficult at all. the hardest part would be to find a donor vehicle that you can get it from or get StreetRodder magazine and check the vendor ads for something there. those rodder guys are pretty crafty people just full of ideas for you and me. it is a great idea and one of the many i have pondered on doing. i say do it if you can and post the results/pics for us. let us know.

--chad

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74 swinger slant 6, the slowest, most fun car i have ever owned.

Should be very possible, I did it on my four door dart. The thing was, I used a universal sorts and have an aftermarket radio, I'm assuming that you probably fit those same guidelines. Anyway, my biggest problem was the hole for the original antenna, and considering our vehickles have about the same front you'll probably have the same problem. The universal's are made for newer vehickle with small antenna holes, so you have a couple of choices.
1) get mor robbuer and some washers to cover the hole and make it a smaller opening
2) weld the orignal hole out of existance and drill in a correct size hole for good fit
3) Here's the one I chose because I wanted to clean up the front, I drilled in the back of my car and stuck the power antenna in the back and plan on welding the original hole out of exist as soon as I can a new passenger's side fender(which remembers, anyone have a very good shape fender?). The biggerest problem with this is I have to make a little drainage hole somewhere, have figured that one out yet. Other than that, the setup looks really good and cleans up the front, and the drainage want I get to it shouldn't be a problem

If you choose to stay as close to stock as possible and keep it in the fender, than I must warn you of a few problem(keep in mind, all this info is assuming you use and aftermarket power antenna). Space is very tight because if you car is like mine the only access is through the door, or taking the fender off which renders it impossible to make a bracket, and also that most likely will have to make a bigger plastic gasket.

If you choose to use the junkyar then the biggest hurdle I can think of other than size difference is the coaxial wire. Since I had my cd player hooked up to my old antenna I must assume that their is an easy way to alleviate this problem(possibly, all coaxial wires are the same? I must admit, that is something I don't quite no). I believe that all you should need is a coaxial wire extension, but, as I said, I used a replacement antenna that easily connected to my radio, so I am unsure.

The wiring part of putting in the antenna is easy, all you need to do is find a ground and hooked the red wire to your battery and, if it's like my power antenna, stick the second wire(my second wire was blue) on a switch that connect to your red wire. Your can also hook the wire into the radio to make it go up when you turn your radio on, but unless you can work with small circuit boards than that may be very hard for you to do, I chose to skip it, I like the power of a switch anyway .

You may no most of this, but I tried to be as helpful as I could, sorry if anything said is wrong, I believe it correct, at least for my installation
Antenna specs(mine)
Location: Schucks
Price: about $65
very adjustable
do to the length of this I will say it right out, sorry for spelling errors.

awe, yes, on that spelling thing. I see I made a great demonstration with my spelling of know.....

If you're looking for a donor vehicle for a manual power antenna (ie: not automatic when the radio is off or on), any 1988-1990 Toyota Land Cruiser has a power antenna that'd be fairly easy to install in an older A-body. I've been toying with the idea of doing just that myself, and since I drive an '88 TLC, I've been able to look at the antenna mounts pretty much side by side when working on the Dart.

EDIT: The hole in my fender does look smaller than the mounting hole in the Dart appears to be. I could take a look the next time I work on the Dart if you want.

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

One thing I did determine from installing the one on my son's Firebird, the coaxial fittings for television are not the same as for radio. And places like Radio Shack don't even have fittings for the radio cable. His replacement antenna mast had a male plug, and so did his cable coming from the radio to the rear quarter panel installation site. We had to cut the cable connection from his old mast, splice, and solder it to the new mast connection. No big deal, just irritating. The new kit came with plenty of base and grommet parts to fit just about any possible slope in the body panel. It even came with a multi-hole strap for attaching as a support brace. It looks very professional when done, if I say so myself.

The problem I see with the Dart Sport is that, as our guest observed, I would have to remove the fender to access underneath the antenna hole for mounting the new one. As I look down the hood hinge opening, I can see the base of the old antenna has a lot of dirt on it that has found its way up through the inner fender. I don't believe that area is very well protected from road spray. It appears the solution would be to mount the new power antenna in the trunk and drill a new hole through the quarter panel. That would be a lot less trouble than removing and reinstalling the front fender. I'll have to look at this a little further before I decide if it is what we should do.

Thanks for the input,
Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

It sucks, radioshack got out of the car audio part of their business. Anyway, if you have a Schucks around that's where I got the coaxial extender cable. Anyway, you can also go through the door with the antenna, though their is very, very, very little room to maneuver. you set the antenna in the door , partially close it, and you can get it in their, but I woudn't suggest. The grommets you talked about will fit most anything, but if you notice they aren't particularily wide(at least if they're like mine. The biggest problem is fixing the problem with hole size, not slope, because those grommets due up to 30 degrees, the thing is, I think the biggest plastic pieces are about and inch wide(maybe larger, I forget ). When I initially put my antenna in the fender the plastic piece just barely covered the hole, but you could still see the two hole tabe things pocking through. Their is a way to cure this easilly if you're crafty, but as you said, I think it would be easier to put it in the trunk. Make sure to find out where you want to drain it though, Dart trunks are already pretty good at catching rust, I don't think draining the water into them will help with that problem . Anyway, good luck, it's pretty nifty once you get it done. If you find one that goes up when the radio turns on then keep in mind that will likely mean sautering in the radio. I've heard that Car-toys and such places should also have the coaxial cable.