1966 Power Antenna Switch Bezel Wanted

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

1966 Power Antenna Switch Bezel Wanted

1965CS · Guru

I may, might, possibly, remote chance ... have one... BUT, if I do, will most likely be the second image. Guessing that is the repo? Will take a look tonight.

flatop · Addicted!

the grande parisienne i just got has the complete unit. does that mean theres a power antenna??

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Actually no because when I look at pictures of that car I see no hole on top of the passenger quarter and there seems to be an antenna base still on the passenger front fender. Can you double check to make sure what I think I'm seeing is actually how it is? Also, the cowl tag will have U75 on it if the car came with a power antenna.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

flatop wrote:
the grande parisienne i just got has the complete unit. does that mean theres a power antenna??

Was the unit lying in the car loose? Can you post pictures of it? I can tell you if it's the correct one for the car if I see it.

flatop · Addicted!

IMG_1298 - Copy.JPG

flatop · Addicted!

it works .your correct front fender antenna no hole in trunk. this thing screeches and sounds like feedback from an electric guitar,does it from front on F, rear on R ,and both on reverb.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Ok, I see I posted a picture of a reverb bezel instead of an antenna bezel. I should have been clear, the bezel I want it is identical but needs to say "ANTENNA".

And the reverb must have issues, it shouldn't screech. It should sound like the speaker is inside a 45 gallon steel barrel if it is working correctly!

flatop · Addicted!

OK ill try it again one day with an antenna and hopefully an am station if there is one,Now that you see it is it the correct one??

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

flatop wrote:

What you have is a complete reverb unit (in the trunk)

The unit only works with a mono radio with front and back speaker,stereo radios and multiple speakers don't work either.

If you have an aftermarket stereo radio in your car, that's probably why it's screeching.

The idea is that the box in the back slows the sound slightly in the rear speaker and combined with the front speaker

It gives a "concert hall" sound in the car. I'm putting one in my 63. They were so "cool" back in the sixties.

I had one in my 60 Pontiac in high school. It was aftermarket, brand was Echo Mate.

It just doesn't work with stereo radios.

-G

https://phscollectorcarworld.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-car-radio-reverb-system.html

-- Edited by Greaser on Monday 23rd of October 2023 07:01:16 PM

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

flatop wrote:
OK ill try it again one day with an antenna and hopefully an am station if there is one,Now that you see it is it the correct one??

Yes, that looks to be an original 66 reverb setup.

1965CS · Guru

Well surprise, I found it! Might even be the correct one too.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

You bet, that's the one.

If you are interested in selling it Steve can you PM me please and we can work out the details?

Thanks.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

1965CS wrote:
Well surprise, I found it! Might even be the correct one too.

Thanks to Steve (1965CS) this bezel will be on it's way to me soon. In lieu of payment to him, I've made a donation to Canadian Poncho as per his request.

I love this site....

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Thanks guys!

silver steak · Addicted!

I have been following this thread with interest and now it appears that you have found the correct bezel /switch. Good for U.

Not to derail this thread, I have a question for you, For this switch, will the DC power go to the switch and then two leads to the power antenna for Up/Down operation?

The reason I ask this question is because I have a newer digital AM / FM radio in my 67 Beaumont. The radio had an internal feature that when the radio was turned on the antenna would go Up and down when turned off. I am planning on investigating the problem this winter , but in the event of the issue being internal ( radio) , I am seeking an alternative and maybe a manual switch such as the one described in you thread might work for my application?

May I have your comments please and thanks

Dale

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

silver steak wrote:
I have been following this thread with interest and now it appears that you have found the correct bezel /switch. Good for U.
Not to derail this thread, I have a question for you, For this switch, will the DC power go to the switch and then two leads to the power antenna for Up/Down operation?
The reason I ask this question is because I have a newer digital AM / FM radio in my 67 Beaumont. The radio had an internal feature that when the radio was turned on the antenna would go Up and down when turned off. I am planning on investigating the problem this winter , but in the event of the issue being internal ( radio) , I am seeking an alternative and maybe a manual switch such as the one described in you thread might work for my application?
May I have your comments please and thanks
Dale

Yes, this power antenna and switch setup on our cars use 3 wires. A power wire in (circuit protected of course) and power out from one side for up, other side for down. The antenna itself is grounded to the body. The radio doesn't in any way control the antenna.

Now, most if not all the new aftermarket power antennas I have seen work differently. They have two wires going to them, they use a relay and do not require the antenna body to be grounded. This is because the antenna works by the polarity being reversed on the two wires. Let's say as an example they have a green and yellow wire. Green will be live going up while yellow is ground. Yellow will be live going down while green is ground.

If you want to put one of these antennas in your car but want to use the original switch on the dash to keep it stock looking, it's easily done with two generic auto parts store relays. Just let me know if you decide to do that and I can post a wiring diagram on how to wire the relays to make it work.

If you aren't sure how your antenna is wired, it's easy to test to figure it out and I can help you with that also.

silver steak · Addicted!

Thanks Carl

I wired the radio , amplifier and the power antenna.

My power antenna has two leads which come from the radio, Red and Black and the body of the antenna has a separate ground wire.

As mentioned , my car is shut down for winter and this issue I plan to investigate over the next few months.

Currently, the antenna is in the up position. I plan to check the antenna functioning properly by using a separate 12 volt battery , circuit protected fuse in line and go directly to the antenna red then black alternatively to so see if the antenna will retract.

If the antenna motor is not the issue, then I can presume the relay inside the radio is the issue, of course I'll check the wiring from the antenna to the radio, I don't plan on removing the radio to repair a relay that is why I was looking for an alternative control method.

Again thanks for the reply, I'll make contact as I go through my process.

Best Regards Dale

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Ok, that sounds good. And even if it is all working as it should, it's nice to have manual control over the antenna.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I was looking in my files for something totally unrelated and happened to see my drawing from when I did the power antenna on a car 10 years ago. I figured I might as well post this just in case you do happen to need to rewire your antenna.

silver steak · Addicted!

Thanks Carl

The illustration is really great and straight forward, great diagram.

The 12 volt from the battery to the relays is Fused aswell ? along with the relays being 30 amp?

Dale

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Yes, if you are hooking it up to an unprotected power source I would protect it, and maybe even with a breaker might be better.

And yes, 30 amp relays would be good. Most of the parts stores that sell those 5 pin 1" cube style relays and pigtails sell the 30 amp.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

You'll notice that the wires for pins 85 and 87a on both relays go to ground. I always take it one step farther than the diagram and solder/heat shrink all 4 of those wires to 1 wire so that I only have one terminal to ground at the end of that wire. In the diagram I show 2 separate grounds but 1 is even nicer to work with.

You can actually also join the pair of 12 volt power source wires together and hook them to the same connection to make it even simpler if you like.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Received today, thanks again Steve. It's soon (this winter I hope) to live the life of luxury in a Grande Parisienne!

1965CS · Guru

4SPEED427 wrote:
Received today, thanks again Steve. It's soon (this winter I hope) to live the life of luxury in a Grande Parisienne!

You are welcome, I need to start purging these extra parts so I'm glad to help out. Now if I could just find that PG console shift indicator plate.....