CautionLight

I've been rolling around with no radio for a few months now, but it's recently started bothering me. I took a peek back there, and there is no (stock) antenna system whatsoever. No bracket, nothing. PO installed a marine antenna and cut into the stock coax wire.

My question is, what exactly can I do to rebound from this and go back to a stock setup? I've been wanting Viper's antenna, but without an assembly, I'm not sure if it would even work. Any insight is appreciated.

RJDio

do you think prev owner's antennae motor went out and he just removed the unit and connected up a stationary antennae?

If that is case, check to see if plug, power wires are still there. If so, I'd put out a "want to buy" post on the classified sections on the board or just find the part number or google search it / ebay etc., a lot of these guys that part out Fbodies will know exactly what it is. These cars are parted out daily. Coaxial cable they are easily repaired by securing it on a fitting, male / female connection, just ask a Radio Shack desk jockey to help you find the part.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Hide it and shave it:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...m-antenna.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...haved-you.html

Atrus_SS

iTrader: (1)

This! The car looks so much cleaner without it! I, too, was hit by someone and used that opportunity to have the antenna hole welded up.

CautionLight

I do think the PO removed the auto antenna, simply because of the lack of hardware. However, I wasn't aware of the hidden antenna concept. I think I'm gonna go this route, because I run CB full time and need a more permanent mount. A Firestik NGP would fit nicely in the existing hole.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

If you can find a way to mount the Firestik NGP to the car, I'd be interested in seeing it. (I thought about it for a while but couldn't think of a way that made me feel good about the strength of the installation.)

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

It appears that Firestik has discontinued both of its "stealth" NGP CB antennas - the Venice whip and the DS14-FG cellular look-alike. I had the Venice on my T/A mounted in place of the factory AM/FM antenna. It was easy to mount and quite solid. I only had to trim down the factory grommet a bit to get to the larger opening and to eliminate most of the wobble inherent in the rubber mounting. If you look at the factory grommet, you'll see that it tapers toward the top making the pass-thru opening for the antenna smaller - trimming the tapered part off with a utility knife makes the hole the right size.

Here is a photo of it mounted on my T/A:


As you can see, other than the base load (which most people don't even notice), it looks very much like a factory antenna. The little ball joint between the mount grommet and the base load originally comes with a wing nut to allow folding but I replaced it with Firestik's security kit which requires a key to loosen the joint - the wing nut looked ugly and made it too easy for someone to steal the antenna.

I took the antenna off the car when I sold it and it's still hanging on my garage wall. If anybody wants it, I'll sell it for $25 plus actual shipping (probably a mailing tube would be the best method if I can find one the right length).

JDEP162

Forget the antennae, get a media player deck for 79 bucks, and a 8gig thumb drive with 2000 songs. Or hook same deckr to phone and use I heart or Pandora.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

For some, that is a very workable solution but there are still good reasons to want an antenna (singular... not multiple antennae). I have plenty of music on flash drives but I still enjoy listening to variety that I can't get from my prerecorded selection. And I have a limited data plan on my phone so services like Pandora are out of the question - besides, I need to preserve the battery for using it as an actual phone (on call 24/7). Other than music, lots of people like to listen to talk radio (I'm a big fan of Car Talk on PBS) or sports and many GPS systems use FM signal to provide more accurate positioning as well as traffic information.

But I agree, if you find that your own collection or a service like Pandora works for you then there really isn't much need for an antenna. My own solution was SiriusXM satellite radio for the variety and talk but lots of people don't want to pay for radio service so that solution wouldn't suit them. Chacun à son goût (to each their own).