Hey gang - sorry I haven't checked back in in a while on this. I did purchase the antenna "rebuild kit" listed on eBay. I'll be the guinea pig on this one and let you know how it works. Arrives on Thursday. I had previously showed it to one of the vendors - they were, uh, skeptical about it working at all. So I suppose we'll see. Worst case, I'll just return it. Will keep you posted.

I think I may have figured it out. Ultimately, I could really just use new plunger components. The cracks expanded as a result of the insert, and it expanded the diameter of one of the plunger halves, so it just doesn't move as easily in the tunnel.

That said, it came down to the seal in between the two plunger halves. I cut the tan washer initially thinking I'd use that to replace what I found in there, which was some sort of fibrous material. However, I quickly figured out that the whole reason it up well was because the new rubber washer created a great seal on the top side of the plunger, but it didn't create a seal at all for the bottom portion.

I suspect that when these parts were new, and the leather wasn't deformed, the plastic on the plungers wasn't cracked/chipped, the original washer moved from one plunger half to the other, depending where vacuum was being drawn.

So I ended up actually thickening the rubber washer between the plunger halves so that both the top and bottom portions of the canister would be isolated from each other. The two holes at the very bottom of the canister aren't for anything more than allowing water to drain from the canister.

So yeah, with the two halves isolated and the bottom of the canister sealed, I got the antenna to go both directions. It's not perfect, but for the original parts that were pretty beat up, I'll take it!

Here's how it turned out:youtube.com/shorts/aDtAAqLgX28?si=63F7xhaQ0Grq4KB_

Hey gang - sorry for the lack of pictures. My setup is a little different ay the bottom. The vacuum portion has the port, and on the bottom, a rubber washer, brass washer, and brass retainer. The vacuum portion goes into the tube, and it is all retained by a cup. The obvious vacuum issue could be between the wall of the tube and the lower vacuum assembly, hence using some silicone RTV to try eliminate that as a possibility.

I did up replacing the lower rubber washer. I took the antenna plunger itself apart again, and I'm going to try using a thinner paper washer between the two plunger halves.

I have a feeling something's still just leaky on the bottom. Here's a video of it behaving as described:youtu.be/hc6AbhfsFHk?si=P22lw_JH6Sc-Skzl

Thanks, all!

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Alright, I'm working on the last item on my 2302 that has never worked whatsoever: the vacuum antenna. I finally decided to pull it off and disassemble. I followed some of the previous posts on this topic (a great one by Howard). Thankfully, both leather pieces were intact and reusable. They were dry, and soaked in some Marvel. The washer sandwiched between the two plastic plastic pieces was torn, so it was replaced by a rubber washer. The bottom plastic piece into which the mast screws was cracked, and the threads were stripped. A 1/4"-28 thread insert and whole lot of JBWeld later, and it was back together.

Reassembled everything and the various vacuum lines connected to the switch. The antenna went up without any issue - worked perfectly. Went to bring it down, and nothing. I assumed the base was leaking. Just to test the theory, I put some silicone RTV all around the cap (except for the two air bleed holes on the bottom). I was a little bit surprised to see it still do nothing.

So for those of you who have had success resurrecting your antenna's functionality, what might cause the antenna to be able to go up (we'll say with ease and enthusiasm), but not want to go down at all (even with an assist).

- will mention that I disassembled and cleaned the switch - it was filthy, but did confirm that it directs vacuum as it should.

- perhaps the one variable is the washer used between the two plastic discs is thicker than the original. The original was very thin, more of a papery material. I replaced it with an identically-sized (OD and ID, not thickness) rubber washer. I did sand down the washer to try to get it a little thinner. I didn't suspect this was a problem because I just wonder why it would work one way, but not the other.

- I also haven't replaced the rubber washer at the bottom by the air bleed - it was still pliable and smooth, so I kept it, though I'll still probably look for a replacement washer tomorrow.

Any experience out there troubleshooting these things? Thanks, all!

Alrighty, got installed my best guess for how this stuff was run. I would assume that it was a fitted connection at the pump, just given that there isn't room to attach 90° fittings. So, I ended up running a rubber line from the pump to the opening on the heat shield, connected to a 1/4" steel tube (brake line that I wrapped in high heat insulatiom) that I ran to the back of the block. I only had one of of those studs for a loop clamp, so that's the only spot it's attached to the block. From there, I put a small bend in the line so it could more easily connect to the next run of steel tube. Onward and upward from there.

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Guys, thank you so much! Many curiosities solved here. I've seen those studs/nuts and always wondered. I just sort of assumed that someone had put them there because they didn't have a proper plug. Makes much more sense now. I'll track down some parts and get this all strung back together. I'll post a picture of the solution once I get it wrapped up (some time next week). Thanks again!

Thanks so much, Howard. Great information as always. I think what I've got here is the vertical section of the tube. Did my best to photograph the upper and lower parts of the vertical run. A small bend and rubber hose at the end make sense.

I suppose I could also my make my life easier still by using a couple elbow barb fittings at the pump with short rubber hose runs, then just run a long, straight run of metal tube along the engine, and connect the vertical metal tube I have to the horizontal run with a short rubber hose. That's probably notexactly how it was done, but it would still eliminate the main issue of running a rubber hose by the exhaust outlet.

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Got it, guys, thank you!! The 23rd series pump appears to need a fitting of some kind at the pump, so my guess is that it was a hard line all the way. Were the horizontal and vertical segments of the tube one long tube or two distinct tubes connected by a short run of vacuum hose?

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Thanks, Kev! As a curiosity, it's sort of a mystery to me how the connection worked at the pump. Does the line connect directly to the fuel pump with a flare fitting (like it does on the manifold side)? And how was the tube secured along the length of the block?

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Hey all - looking to see if anyone has vacuum tubes for the wiper motor to the fuel pump for a model 2302 (body 2372). There were two tubes used:

398287 - fuel pump to lower hose
415735 - lower hose to upper hose

Right now, I'm just running a loooong rubber vacuum line that goes right by the exhaust. Feel like I'm asking for trouble. I THINK the lower to upper tube is still in place (second picture) - curves at the top and just runs straight down. Not sure if any of it is missing. There wasn't anything there for a lower tube.

I assume that there were short runs of rubber line used to connect the tube runs together? I've seen the upper hose with the T for the antennae switch, but I don't recall seeing how the bottom part worked - only the drawings. Would love to get this back to how it was originally setup. Thanks!

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