How do I remove the top fastener from my '56 radio antenna housing??

[Dan Slivinski]

Hello,

My electric radio antenna stopped working in my 1956 Coupe DeVille.  I need to remove the assemble from the car.
I've got all of the mounting bolts removed that fasten the antenna housing to the car, but I cannot figure out how to remove the fastener at the top of the housing....that would be the fastener that mounts the top of the housing to the bezel on top of the fender.  The fastener has two splits at 180degree increments from each other.  Where can I get the proper tool to remove this fastener??

Thanks!
Dan

[Doug Houston]

You'll need to make a tool to do it. Assuming that the mast is fully retrtacted into the housing, it should be reasonably easy to do.

Get a piece of thick walled steel tubing, the outside diameter of the retaining nut on the antenna. one end of the tubing must be turned, so as to have a true surface perpendicular to the axis of the tubing. The tubing should possibly 6 inches long. Then, cut away stock from the finished end, so as to leave two studs that will fit snugly into the slots of the mounting ring nut.  This operation is best done with a milling machine, so as to give the tool an accurate fit to the nut. The studs should not be longer than the depth of the two slots. The object here is to lock the tool snugly to the nut, so that the tool will not try to slip off the nut as you try to turn it. You have to expect the nut to be stuck on there, after 51 years!

It would be best to drill the other end of the tool and use a steel rod through the tool as a handle for turning.

If the above doesn't work, dynamite might be the second choice.