Dropped radio antenna into fender.

[2wrench]

Okay. Painting the car. Removing the antenna and, oops,
slipped through my fingers and dropped right down into
the abyss of the fender.

Thought little of it at the time. So now it's time to
retrieve that little sucker and I can't seem to find it
in the fender. Poked around with a magnetic tool for
picking up dropped nuts and the like. Nothing.

Using the flashlight through the hole in the top of the
fender, cannot find the antenna.

Anybody suggest how to get it out of the fender -- oh,
yeah, the car is a '74 TR6.


Thanks,

 

[SCguy]

In most cases it wouldn't be in the fender, but rather behind the carpet on footwell wall. Should be able to access it from under the dash.

 

[tomshobby]

Hi 2wrench, one of these should work. Probably any Sears would have them.


https://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools.asp?tool=all&Group_ID=1273&store=snapon-store

Never even thought of Larry's solution!

 

[Brosky]

Pull the carpeting back. Three or four small screws hold it, easy to rip past them, so be careful.

It will be there. And when you fish it back up, wrap a big wide strip of masking tape around it like a flag, so if it slips, it isn't going straight down again.

 

[tdskip]

Wimps - remove the fender!

and then the old rust proofing

and then sort out some minor rust spots

and then, since access is pretty good at this point, decide the rebuild the front suspension

hey, that frame could use some paint

gee, it is kind of hard to the the frame painted properly while the body is still on it...

You've been warned. <grin>

 

[AltaKnight]

Beware the deadly "Shipwrights Disease"

 

[2wrench]

Uhhhh, wellll, uhhh, maybe I'll go fer ripping back
the carpet at the footwell thing. I'm still reeling
from painting the thing.

Ain't nothing like a fly in the paint. (Did this job in my front driveway, you know.) Hey, these little insects buzzz on over the car, get high off the fumes, lose their breath
and fall right in.

Dang! I got a mask! This stuff is enough to kill a guy.
Thanks to all for your responses.

Tomshobby, (wish I could figure how to know your real names), I like the tool idea. Might be good just to have around. My mind keeps thinking about other things I
could use it for...... but actually, I'm kinda drawing
a blank. Certainly might go there if antenna not seen in the footwell, though.

Thanks again for the help from my friends on the
net.

 

[tdskip]

Where exactly is the fender hole located on your car?

So in all seriousness, I think you might need to pull the fender. If it fell down into front fender it is likely stuck in the air gap between the inner and out fender.

 

[swift6]

If it is too far forward to have fallen inside the cockpit and is between the outer and inner fender, then you should have a mud guard inside the fender area that you can unbolt and access that area. There should not be a need to totally unbolt the outer fender.

 

[tdskip]

you should have a mud guard inside the fender area that you can unbolt and access that area.

I thought that was welded, no? Sorry if I led anyone astray.

 

[RonMacPherson]

Left click on the poster's name, drop down box will come down, select user profile, or Pm him. He's also built a very nice TR6 that crops up on the 6 packorg site regularly.

 

[TR3driver]

I've got a really neat telescoping magnetic pick-up tool that also has an LED light built into the tip. It's great for hunting things inside dark cavities. Might not be strong enough to lift an entire antenna, but I'll bet it would get the tip up where you could grab it with something else.

Sure wish I could remember where I bought it /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

Might have been Horrible Freight; but I don't see it listed on their website.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

A magnet wont work if its brass. Get a long thin dowel,wrap it with duct tape backwards,sticky outside,stab around until you snag it.

 

[TR3driver]

A magnet wont work if its brass.

True, but all of mine have steel in the top section.

 

[Darrell_Walker]

I assume this antenna has a cable that connects to the radio? Could you track it down that way?

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Or..sawsall..

 

[Geo Hahn]

A magnet wont work if its brass.

True, but all of mine have steel in the top section.

My antennae (sp?) are all stainless steel, thus a magnet would be useless.

I just did this task (antenna retrieval) on a friend's Porsche the other day using one of those grabby tools. Fortunately he is a Stanley tool rep and had a little flexing LED that let us get light into the cavity and see in at the same time (hard to do with a regular flashlight).

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Geo,...your friend drives Porches??? did you make amends??

 

[BOXoROCKS]

O'Lord...won't cha buy me a Diamler Benz..

 

[DNK]

What is the antenna for??