Classic/Antique Car Repair: trunk mount antenna, outer sheath, antenna cable

Question
I recently purchased a replacement trunk mount antenna from a 56 ford fairlane to use on my 56 t-bird (which has the mount for trunk antenna but no antenna). The motorola plug was removed from the end of the antenna wire and I need to replace it. It seems like the antenna wire is thicker than those used today and has a copper braided sheath on the outside then plastic then a thin copper wire in the center. What kind of plug should I buy and how is this connected? Should I buy a male or female motorola plug adapter? Do I need to ground the antenna?

Answer
The radio end of the antenna cable is a standard plug which just about all radios used up into the 80s, so any antenna that you see at Radio Shack or the auto parts store will have the plug you need on it already.   The cable is also standard - a plastic outer sheath of about 1/4 inch diameter, covering a braided ground shield, with a very, very tiny copper wire in the center, supported by a spiral wound plastic thread that holds the wire in the center of the cable.  If you are unlucky enough to have one with no plug on it, I advise you to get another cable with the plug already on it - as the attachment is pretty critical if you want the radio to work well.  Yes, the antenna will be grounded by the mounting - you don't need to do anything about it.  For a trunk mounted antenna, you will probably need an antenna cable extension - it will come with the right plug on it, and also have a female receptacle on the antenna end of it, so you should be able to just plug the two cables together and be in business.

Dick