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Not too much to report. Found some emery cloth that I forgot about. I used it for soldering copper pipes. Used it to clean the brushes and the communicator. Tried the motor again on the battery charger and it still hums, but no movement.

Next I tried the screws again. Not budging so I took out the Dremel and cut off wheel to cut the tops off. After 4 wheels I finally got them off, but the housing still will not separate. I guess I didn't cut them close enough to the housing. I may use a drill bit next. Looking at HH56's pics, I need to be careful that I'm not too agressive drilling and damaging the wires at the bottom of the motor.

Those Dremels are nice when they work, but the tools sure wear out or break quickly.

It was pretty cold out so I quit after that.

Once I get the motor separated and cleaned, how do I check to see if the windings are OK? What other tests should I do while it is apart?

Just be gentle with it. After seeing thishttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1951-54-Packard-Power-Antenna-Rebuilt-/200564163918?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2eb28e454e maybe I should fix the one I took apart last night.

May sure the motor spindle is centered in the housing. Mine had this issue when the spindle was grazing the housing causing a short. Check the bushing at the bottom of the house to make sure it is not off centered.

You need to put the gear housing back on for the motor to run. The housing acts as the bearing for that end of the motor shaft.

Thats right... it's all coming back to me now. Check that bearing in the bottom of the housing as that is what gets out of alignment and buggers up the works. The bottom bolt then locks the bearing in place once you have it centered.

Thanks for the tips guys. I guess I should try it one last time with the gear assembly back on and see if that helps. If not, I'll keep working on getting it apart.

1-29-11

Tried the motor again with the gear assembly back on. Still not working, just humming.

Finished drilling out the screws that were frozen in place. Did a butcher job, but at least it is apart. It did not come out easily. I had to put a screw driver in the screw hole I drilled and slam the screwdriver and motor onto my work table. Finally came apart after many hits in each hole. Because of the violent hits I was giving it, the brush came out (the one that is held on with a screw) and the spring flew off somewhere. Is there anything special about these springs? Maybe the hardware store will have a suitable replacement.

Now that it's apart, it really looks terrible. Lots of white powder came out of it (the workbench was clean before I started) as you can see in the pictures.

There is a square piece that came out of the motor housing. Not sure what it is or does. Maybe that is the copper piece HH56 was talking about?

Looks like the next step is to separate the insulating plate where the bushings are from the top of the motor. The wires appear to be soldered to it. I tried to melt it with my 30 watt soldering iron, but it didn't do anything.

I suppose I could buy a bigger iron, but I would hate so shell out $30-40 on something I will probably never need again. Then I was thinking about cutting the three wires and crimping them together again when I reassemble the motor. I would put the heat shrink tube insulation on them like I did on the harness. Anyone see any harm in that?

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I can see why you're having problems with it. That must have had water running down the antenna and just collecting there for years. Surprised anything is left and not rusted away.

Don't see a problem doing the wiring as you want as long as there is enough space go get them to slide in and to use the crimp tool without pulling something. I'm a firm believer in solder because of seeing too many factory crimps fail over the years.

That little square is phenolic insulator for something. Mine flew out too and I have to play around and figure out where it goes. I'll have a look in the next few days when I put mine back together. The spring shouldn't be too bad & doesn't look special but there is a little ball BB that goes at the end of shaft to control end thrust. That probably flew as well and needs to be replaced.

The nylon bushing seal seems to have been the problem back when. Found a blurb on it in the service letters. Can't wait to see what mine is going to look like.

1-30-11

Spent an hour trying again to get the solder loose on the insulating plate. Couldn't make a dent in it. Just some puffs of smoke. So I was forced to cut the wires.

Pulled the armature out. Pretty nasty. Used the emery cloth to clean up the plates the windings go around. Also tried cleaning the inside of the electromagnet housing. I may need to use my media blaster on this. Not coming very clean.

Good news..I did not loose the ball bearing. I have been looking and looking inside the housing for it and I couldn't find it. Then I used a really bright flashlight and saw a glimmer of metal. Turned it over and tapped and it came out. It was buried in the felt at the bottom of the housing.

If memory serves, the winding wires have a special insulating coating so I'm going to avoid touching those.

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