Antenna Mast Repair

[flyinthermals]

Sorry to bore you all with this topic but has anyone had any luck in repairing the mast for the Bullet bird antenna. I just purchased this a few weeks ago($100.00 for base, antenna and shipping) and the telescoping portion has separated. It is not broken but the inner sleeve has let go of the second stage segment. The supplier said that he would gladly ship a new replacement for me as long as I ship back the faulty one and pay for shipping the replacement. This of course would far exceed the cost of me just buying the mast myself: which I cant find here in Ontario. It still works somewhat but I do notice a weaker signal and the extendable height is now limited.

[flyinthermals]

No Ideas anyone????

OK, Time to buy a new antenna again.

[jopizz]

Seems you've found out out what a lot of us have encountered. The fact that reproduction parts aren't made to the same tolerances as factory parts. Who did you buy it from. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't ship you a replacement mast based on your say so and pictures. I would call them back and ask to speak to someone with some authority. Maybe if you tell them that their poor customer service is going to be documented on this forum they will be more likely to send you a replacement mast. It's worth a shot.

John

[flyinthermals]

I got the antenna from Pat Wilsons. I guess I could try to call them again and see what they say. They told me for them to get credit for the antenna, they need the broken one to ship back. I called them twice and they had no other option for me. I don't mind paying if I get quality. Its going through the hassel after that wrecks my day.

[YellowRose]

Antenna Mast Repair

Rob, the one person who probably knows more about Bulletbirds and other Tbirds than anyone I can think of is Tom Maruska of Tbirds Square. Here is his website.

http://www.tbirdsquare.com/

Here is the email address to use and follow the instructions he gave in his IMPORTANT!!! message below.

Tom Maruska tpls63@msn.com

Here is what he said to do if you email him.

IMPORTANT!!!
If you email me to inquire about parts availability
PLEASE enter something about Tbird Parts in the subject space
of your email. If you don't enter anything, your email may be discarded by my SPAM filter. Thanks!

My suggestion is to email him and ask him if he can tell you how to repair that antenna. He might have done it before. He has done about anything you can to a Bulletbird from what I understand. He might be able to give you some help.

I have just received a reply from him and invited him to join the Forum, which, he has indicated that he will do. Here is the latest project he is working on, restoring a '65 Convertible!

[jopizz]

I would think for a $25 antenna mast that they would just send you a replacement and not worry about getting the old one back. I've dealt with Pat in the past but not recently so I can't comment on their current reputation. As far as Tom Maruska goes I've bought many items from him and he is very knowledgeable as Ray said.

John

[flyinthermals]

Thanks Gentlemen. Pat Wilson called me back this evening and now says all I have to do is pay the shipping for the old mast back to him. He will send me another mast and he will take care of the shipping to send me the new one. Thats looking better. Thanks John, your idea worked. I cant seem to find the replacement mast here so paying the shipping charge to send the old one back is the same as buying one here in Ontario: if I could find one.

[flyinthermals]

Further Update....

Pat from Pat Wilson's Thunderbird told me this evening he is shipping me out the new antenna mast and does not require anything from me except some pictures. That turned out quite well. I wish this customer service was the norm nowadays rather than the exception. I can almost hear the squeaky oldies stations now.

[jopizz]

Glad to see that it worked out in your favor. Now hopefully the new mast lasts longer than the old one.

John

[flyinthermals]

John,

You touched on something during this thread. That the quality of replacement parts are subpar most of the times. Car parts from the past seem to last decades before they break down. It seemed that the companies were interested in growth for the long term and building a quality name and brand. Now its this throw away "society mentality" Everything these days is about profit and money and producing a components for as cheap as possible so as to see as much profit as possible. They don't want parts to last. They want repeat business over and over again.
There seems to be a big need for quality materials and craftsmanship again. Not only in the auto field but almost every area. Even if the price was double or triple, depending on the item, I would gladly pay to have a grade "A" replacement part. I wonder if its just a matter of supply and demand. The tools and moulds and machines necessary to produce these high quality products are not worth investing in unless a company sees 10x profits. As much as I like working on cars, I would still love to replace a part and see it last just as long as its original did.

[jopizz]

The problem is that if all the reproduced parts were of the same quality as the originals the cost of restoring a car would not only far exceed the resale value but it would be far out of the reach of all but the richest individuals. The trade off is to make cheap parts that are affordable to the average person.

John

[flyinthermals]

I have an update to the never ending mast story. I received my mast by UPS today and it looks beautiful. I installed it and the radio stations are alive again. Where would we be without a working radio in our cars.

Now the problem. It seems when the invoice was sent it had the price of $0 as its worth for customs. Thats all the invoice said. When the mast went through customs they applied a $23.00 brokerage fee to the package. I had no choice of paying it. I dont think the staff at Pat Wilson's Thunderbird deals with shipping to Canada much. When I called them I asked them to please provide me with an amended invoice that shows a value of $1.00 plus put that the item is a warranty item. They gladly did this. I discovered with my phone tag game I played between UPS, the broker and Canada customs that the invoice must have "warranty" clearly marked on it. I should have just paid the $23.00 and let it go but it bugged me. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I burnt more calories and sent the amended invoice to the broker who after 5 phone calls and about 45min on the phone they now tell me there will be a $15.00 charge to amend the old invoice

I will not tell you what I said to them...

If anyone has anything shipped cross border under warranty I recommend that they get the seller to clearly put that the item is a warranty item.