A few odds and ends on 99 C70 convertible

[Stumpylampshades]

So I have a few minor issues with my C70, none serious but they bug me so here I am. First is probably the most serious, my top is shedding something pretty much every time it moves. This has forced me to do what I know know is seemingly a sin of owning this car, that being leaving the top half opened so I can clean the drains in the storage compartment. Is there anything that can be done about this shedding? It’s getting annoying having this crap falling on me nearly every time I move the roof. (I even found a large chunk in my CD changer the other day, though that’s partially related to a later problem)

Second is my power antenna is broken. Pretty sure it’s the cable or whatever because the motor can be heard for a while after turning the radio on/off. I’d like to take it out to ensure that before I just buy a replacement (or maybe try to fix it if I can), but I have no clue how to take it out.

Third is I have just a couple issues with my radio unit (the 6 disk in dash changer). First of those is that the tape deck heats up significantly under continuous use. This ends up causing my aux adapter tape to cause a bunch of noise once I’ve been driving for a while. Is there anything that could be done to fix that? Second is the cover plate for the CD cartridge hole is broken, it just doesn’t spring up when the changer cartridge is removed. (This is how the roof crap got in there). Is it worth it to take apart the radio to try and fix it or do I just live with it? Last and probably least the plastic cover over the LCD on the radio is scuffed up a lot and it makes it hard to read in the wrong light, can I just like cover it with a coating (like clear nail polish?) to make the scratches less/not visible or would I need to do some more intensive work to clear it up?

[scot850]

Don't know about the roof but is is probably just breaking up as the material has aged.

Power antenna you can remove. You have to remove the inner trim panel on the LHS of your trunk, and then it is held in by a large nut on the top of the rear fender, and 2? small nuts or bolts on the lower part on the inner fender. It also has a drain tube you have to pull up from the trunk floor. I can't recall in the C70 if you have to remove the amplifier to get to the antenna. I don't think you do.

You can buy replacement masts from companies like MTC. You have to open the antenna to remove the old antenna mast which has either seized or stripped the nylon drive teeth. If you remove the remaining parts of the old mast, you can reassemble the cover back on and refit the whole unit. Then switch the radio on and let the antenna motor run. Feed the new mast nylon end down into the antenna shaft and when you hit resistance, switch the radio off and it will pull the mast in. You may have to extend and retract it another time to get it fully operational.



Watch Roberts DIY video.

Head unit - What model of head unit is it? An SC-900 or SC-901? Either way, if the flap on the 3 CD changer does not work, it has either lost the small hair spring that closes it or the flimsy plastic molding on the flap that hods the spring has broken. I have replaced this a couple of times, but you will need to find a donor unit to get the parts.

Finally the cassette unit. It may just need cleaned. That is a fun task and it would take a long time to write that up.

Neil.

[Stumpylampshades]

It is an SC-901. I think I have a spring that matches the description somewhere, though that might have been from the cupholder. I’m certainly interested in cleaning the tape deck. Thanks for your help, June.

[scot850]

The spring generally only gets lost when the small post it sits on snaps. Only option is to find a dead unit and scavenge the parts from that. I posted on MVS when I need those parts and by good luck, someone had a dead unit and removed the whole front face plate and sent it to me. I just swapped one over on a SC-900 I have spare as I was given a dead unit by a friend.

For cleaning the cassette heads, I tape 2 x regular double ended cotton buds together to make a longer cotton bud, or you could use a long narrow screw driver and tape a cotton bud to that. It needs to be about 5" long to be able to get to the rubber pinch wheel at the back of the units. It is then a case of using IPA/rubbing alcohol on the cotton bud and cleaning the face of the play head, and the 2 rubber pinch wheels which are all on the RHS of the cassette opening. You can get tape head cleaners that look like a cassette, but not sure how good they are. Probably better than nothing. Something like this:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Audio-Cassette- ... 0e7d4dd918

It is just an example, you will probably find something cheaper locally.

Neil.