TroppoShark

Lately my aerial hasn't been withdrawing totally, so I need to lubricate it.

The manual recommends doing it once a week with very light oil (like sewing machine oil), but I usually lubricate locks and similar friction fits with graphite, so that they don't gum up and collect grit.

Anyone out there used graphite on their aerial?

Any opinions or recommendations?

Phill
'84 928 Euro

Nicole

What's an aerial? A sunroof?

SharkSkin

Graphite will be messy, and you're right that too much oil will tend to collect dust and gum things up. Either way, you will end up cussing one day when you brush against it while wearing a clean white shirt...

To get it working, extend the antenna and disconnect the battery(or the antenna motor wires). You should be able to unscrew the mast and pull it up... be careful not to pull the actuator cable, but collapse the mast as you lift it. Now you should be able to extend and collapse the mast easily by hand; work some silicone lube into it. If you can't get it to move freely, try some 0000 steel wool or replace it. If you can, continue to work it back and forth and clean with a rag until you get all of the "wet" oil off of it.

Reassemble, and whenever you wash the car spray some silicone onto a paper towel and wipe the mast down. You want the thinnest of films on there; it won't collect much stuff.

[edited for spelling]

TroppoShark

Silly me, Nicole...

Where I am we call the car antenna an 'aerial', and an 'antenna' is what you put on the roof for TV reception.

Neither of these has anything to do with skyhooks, although they were a great Aussie pop band of the seventies...

It's funny how we trans-scribe different terms for the same objects. So, I must resist the temptation of imagining US 928's driving around with TV antennas that won't go up or down...

Phill.

TroppoShark

Dave, thanks, that suggestion about wiping it down with silicon spray sounds spot on. It's not so bad that I have to dismantle it...

I knew there'd have to be something better than oil these days, though...

Now, as to white shirts... here in tropical Queensland we tend to wear lotsa bright colours, like mango, canary yellow, etc

In fact, since moving here, I've never seen so many yellow cars. And I mean rich, banana yellow.

By contrast, in Hobart, Tasmania, where I spend the summer/wet season, my wardrobe is almost exclusively black, and anyone driving a banana-yellow car would be laughed off the street.

(my car's white, BTW)

Phill.

SharkSkin

Well, mango, canary.... same result...

TroppoShark

Doug Hillary

Hi,
TroppoShark - where do you reside?
Have we met?
Are you in Landsharkoz???

Questions - questions

As you can see I'm at Airlie Beach - well most of the time!

Not many canary yellow cars here though - just lots of coloured sails on yachts playing in the islands that make up this Tropical paradise called Whitsunday!

Well there are two "collector" 911s here, another couple of 928s (including a white one - is that yours?) and the odd visiting Lambo, Aston, BMW, Ferrari etc. And three other Z3's to go with mine

Regards

Randy V

I would recommend against any type of lubricant. Most euro car manufacturers provide alcohol wipes in the tool kit. These are for cleaning the aerial.

Applying a lubricant only tends to attract and hold dust and dirt against the aerial stalk, resulting in binding and eventual failure.

Just keep it clean.

macreel

I clean mine by wiping with a paper towel
then with a couple drops of light oil (gun
[oh, you may not have that down under]
or sewing machine) on another towel,
I wipe the extended length a couple
swipes; then stow the aerial (or ant'a).

G'luck.

TroppoShark

Answers to Doug, Randy and Macreel:

G'day Doug,

Good of you to make contact, mate.

I don't think we've met, but I have joined Landsharkoz, around the same time I joined Rennlist - I tend to throw myself into things fully until I have a comfy handle on them, and then I can ease back a bit... [I'm 'Tropposhark' in Landsharkoz as well]

My car came from Mission Beach, where it resided for about four years. It's known to a few good Porsche people up here (eg Ron Mason), and has a reputation for having been well kept. The only thing that didn't work on it when collected was the cruise control; and the air con blows warm. Could be linked via a vacuum problem, but I'm still sussing that all out. Meanwhile I have a hot water valve on the way, to start eliminating probabilities... ( I don't actually care about the cruise control, given the hilly, winding conditions in which I mainly drive)

Doug, you have two pages of great recommendations for improving the running of the shark. From memory, one of them is to replace a main vacuum unit near the front wheel arch... Is memory serving me well here? What's that all about? You say that it solved many vacuum problems, and I haven't seen it dealt with in other threads...

In Cairns this Sunday the newly formed local Porsche club will be having its second meet... I don't have the full details yet. I learnt about when a bloke in a Merc 450 (something) kept accelerating up the inside of me on the highway. I didn't know what he was on about, and pulled away the first time (BWAAAAAAHHH), but the second time I was able to make out that he was friendly and wanted to talk... I'll try to get back online with details tonight. If I get the firm details I'll post it on Landsharkoz



Hi Randy,

Thanks for your advice. I'm really shy of running the aerial/antenna dry, though it sounds like it obviously works for you...

The whole thing about collecting dust and grime is why I'm cosidering a dry lubricant like graphite. It's fantastic in locks for that reason.

(Geez, I love that rear-vision avatar...)


Hey, Macreel,

Love that copper colour!

Thanks for your feedback. Sounds like there's as many solutions as there are radio stations...

(You're right, after the Port Arthur Massacre and the subsequent gun buyback, there's a lot less gun oil about. There's a lot less spilt blood, too)

Regards to all,

Phill.