Well antenna is on and antenna wire is up to the radio,  the problem now is the male fitting on the fixed antenna wire that plugs into the radio is larger in diameter than the diameter of the female connection on the radio that it plugs into. The original power antenna wire that plugs into the radio looks as if at some time had been altered,  it's obvious that some one has changed the male end on that power antennas wire that plugged into the radio.  I went to Wal mart and Oriely's auto parts bought some adapters and had no luck,  the male ends are also larger in diameter than the female fitting on the radio.  I have no idea what this is all about unless the radio that's in the car is not a 1981 Corvette radio,  but the face on the radio sure looks like the one in my owners manual for radios. Any ideas on this malfunction ?     

That's kinda weird...I no of no different sized input leads for any radio antennae....all I've ever seen were the same size. Granted, sometimes they are a tight fit, but.....

Can you get pics of the two leads you have?(power & non-power)

Joel Adams
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Yes I could get pictures but I don't think you can tell the difference in sizes by the pictures. I tried everything to get that fixed antenna male end into the female end. I used electrical grease,  I tried to squeez the male end with pliers I don't know what the deal is. I bought the antenna from ecklers I called them thinking some adapter I didn't get when I ordered the antenna. They said no other parts they can find that I needed. I do have the right parts,  late 1975 to 1982 fixed antenna. The only thing they could think was that the power antenna radio and fixed mast antenna radios had a different female plug. I'm like you I never seen any other kind of female plug,  the male end on the antenna wire always fit it didn't mater what year what type of car they all fit.

Maybe the previous owner had a high-end radio in it and put the original radio back in.

1973 L-82 4 spd

I just had an old radio repair man tell me that's the problem with after market antenna,  not to specific on the sizes. He told me to take a fine file and at the tip that slides into the female end do a little filling, 5 minutes and done he said.  I'll give it a try in the morning and will post results..  

Well after careful consideration and talking with the boss ( my wife ),  I decided to get a replacement for the radio I have. It might be the best thing to do in the first place. I was unable to get the hour to set on original radio in the car,  I was able to get the minutes to set but the hour went to the #1 and wouldn't go to the next hour being 2. I was also unsure if the cassette player worked you could put a tape in and it wouldn't play, fast forward or reverse. I was told that the hour setting problem was a logic issue in the radio. I know one thing for sure those radios in a Corvette are a pain getting out. I also think that the radio's female antenna plug and the male wire end that was in car had been altered for some reason. The male cable end had been put on by someone at one time. I also think the female fitting in the radio had been changed. I found a reasonably priced  refurbished 1981 Corvette radio on ebay and bought it. I hope this is the end of this fiasco,  time will tell and I'll keep you posted.      

Found the problem on the antenna when I was able to place the radios side by side. Top radio in picture is the one that was just bought.

as you can see the red pencil points to a sleeve left in the original cars radio female plug, when I pulled the antenna wire out it separated. When the radio was still in the car I couldn't tell exactly what was what because if you look at the antenna wire it still has a sleeve on it. 

New radio in and works Great.