Height Control & TV Antennas

[Page Britt]

Greetings One & All,

Yesterday I installed a new left rear height control valve. Note - as
I'm sure some of you know, It's lots of getting the nuts started on
the valve mounting bolts on the rear of a PT! ;-) Adjusted the ride
height to spec (& my satisfaction) today. Another good job done, on
to the next... which is the TV antenna. It's decided to remain
firmly in the down position, when you attempt to raise it the actuator
makes the proverbial ratatattat noise which is normally made by the
actuator clutch at the end of travel. A search of the forum archives
revealed that the actuator is available from Danaher for the princely
some of $400 or so. Tomorrow weather permitting I plan to take a look
at it. Has anybody had any luck repairing or freeing up a stuck
actuator (liner drive) in their OEM TV antenna? I'm not in a great
hurry to spend $400 or so on an actuator knowing that the rotor
mechanism inside the "flying saucer" antenna head either needs to be
repaired or the entire antenna head replaced also. If the actuator is
non repairable I'm mentally leaning toward the whole thing going over
the side and replacing it with something newer. Thoughts?

Pushing to get a short list of DMI's (Deferred Maintenance Items) done
in time for a Friday departure to spend several days at the
Thomasville, GA Fly-In. Great little event for any that may be
interested and in the area.


Thanks,

Page & Lynda
1984 PT-40 "Lady Bird"
Tallahassee, FL