speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

My friend did this with his Stang, figured I'd give it a shot with the Bird. Gives the car a much nicer overall look, and the best part is, it took about 10 minutes to do and cost absoloutly NOTHING. I'm sure other people have done it, but just figured I'd share it with you guys in case anyone hadn't thought about it before. Basicly you just take the antenna off the car (Screws off), hold the top part of the antenna in a bench vise, and use a pair of pliers to twist/pull the ball at the end off (Carefull not to loose it).
From there, I just cut off 10" or so, but I guess you could cut off whatever length you wanted to, but I immagine if you went too short you'd have bad radio reception. lol
Anyhow, you'll have to file/sand/grind down the tip once you cut so that the ball will fit back on, i just used a dremel with a grinder really quick and a little sand paper, hammered the ball back on, wiped it down with a damp cloth, dried it, and spray'd it. Looks a lot better than it did before, I'd recomend it to anyone!

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

good job

hrddrv

Did this have any affect on range? Do you get some stations better or worse now? I had a shorter antena on my sunfire for a while and got worse reception.

87CIZ

iTrader: (8)

damn i didnt realize those things were so long! It's been awhile since i paid attention to an antenna. Mines power so i dont see it to often.... Nice job though! Maybe if it was a little shorter like the height of the roof of the car it would look a little better? who knows?

Brisk

iTrader: (25)

I like my power antenna... when I feel its too long, I just pop in a cd and it hides itself

ND4SPD86

iTrader: (1)

good job.I don't have an antenna anymore I shaved it last year. I think my car looks 10x better without. but I do plan on addind a satellite radio radio to my car later on

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

This is not a mod I'd recommend if you live in a rural area that's not real close to the radio stations you listen to. The length of the antenna is a very specific size because antennas work best when their length is a fractional increment of the wavelength they are trying to receive. In other words, an antenna works best when it's length is 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. the length of the wave it's trying to receive. By altering the length of your antenna, you're going to have a significant effect on reception. If you live in the city that's broadcasting it, you'll probably be just fine, but for those of us that already get lousy reception because we're on the fringe, it wouldn't be a wise idea.

speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

well, currently theres no radio at all in the car, so i'm all set. LOL
Even if there was, I mostly listen to CD's, and I'm not TOO far from the stations I listen to. Thanks though!

lxcamaroxl

I dont like stations in my area. I think im going to do this today!

When i first started reading i was like "Its just an antenna"
Then you see how long it was and its
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vs
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I think it looks good

speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

You're in MA....what stations do you get? I usually only listen to the hillman morning show on 107.3 and other than that its CD's, but the firebird doesnt even HAVE a radio yet so I dont have to worry bout that, lol

jrmaatta

Um, why not just spend a whoppiing $5 on the rubber antenna from AutoZone/Pep Boys/Etc?? It'll be close to roof-height, and pretty good reception considering the small size. Here's an OLD pic (May 1 05) of my car w/ the rubber antenna. Really bad angle, but it gives you a general idea.



And by old, I mean it looks more like this now...



It's hard to see in the pic (taken a couple weeks ago - it's flat black primer now), but the antenna and trunk lock are both shaved now. I still have more work to do, but it's not really related to the topic.

The cut-antenna does look greatly improved over the stock radio tower tho

NoItsNotForSale

iTrader: (1)

Those rubber antennas look ghetto. I prefer no antenna so I shaved it.

jrmaatta

Notice the second pic?? Kinda hard to see I guess

Diggler86

Agree w/ Jim85IROC. Reception will suffer.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

But that's ok, because functionality takes a back seat to appearance at all costs anyway.

UDAMON

iTrader: (2)

umm.... then why didnt you just take it off and leave it off? your saying all how you have a short antenna but it serves no purpose??? im lost man... nice work though. i do agree shorter looks better but i would just leave it off if i were you.

Cadillac

Good point Jim. I think there may be a way to determine what length is best with respect to the power of the antenna. Back when CB's were a cool thin to have (still are IMO) we have a tool that you could attach to the antenna that would gauge how much gain it used when you both broadcasted a message as well as received a signal (I'm pretty sure I am using the wrong terms here).

Anyway, the bottom line is that when we did this with CB antenna we were able to determine that there were various lengths you could make your antenna that would make for good reception and broadcasting -- both short and long. It depended on what was optimal for the radio itself. I am quite sure you can't just cut the aerial and expect it will work the same but you can determine what length (shorter) will work almost as good.

With respect to design this is another one of those things where I am sure the GM engineers (or Delco as the case may be) knew best. Then again, if you don't care about the aesthics, screw it.

jrmaatta

I dunno if I would just "leave it off" b/c IMO having the mount on the fender stickin' up w/ no antenna is more pointless/ghetto than having a cut antenna. Either have an antenna, or shave it, don't leave just a screw/mount sticking up thru the fender.

jrmaatta

There are calculators online to determine optimal lengths, but they're for one given frequency. If you listen to more than one radio station, the antenna is no longer 'optimal'.

In general, you don't need the antenna to be "perfect" on an AM/FM radio b/c you don't have to transmit from it like with CB radio's. There may be some way to hook up an SWR meter to an FM radio, but it probably wouldn't be worth the effort of adapting the meter to the radio.

lxcamaroxl

I Get like 95.5 and Fun 107 and .....alot of stuff

i just rather listen to CDs

A88GTANotchback

be liek me....shave it and put in a MP3 player....