Just bought a car that has a "whip" aerial, mounted on the front centre of the car roof. Something like this:
Someone suggested placing a plastic bottle over the aerial prior to reversing. This doesn't bend the aerial back enough. I may need to add some weight to the bottle. Any ideas?
Thanks Mike
"bruce snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Ten to one the mast unscrews.
Shorten it or replace it or just remove it, put some sand in the plastic bottle. Or replace the door. Roller shutter doors usually give more headroom.
Have you tried unscrewing it? It MUST come off for the car wash. The one in the motocare advert is removable.
Paul J
Won't it bend?
Rob Graham
Unless, like mine, it has seized completely...
David Taylor gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Regular spray of penetrating oil, and keep trying it gently over the course of a couple of weeks. It'll come.
The aerial does not unscrew. But it bends. The aerial is longer than the one in the motocare ad. It's about 2 ft/
60 cm.Bruce
Pay up! The aerial does not unscrew. Bruce
Yes. That's why I am placing a plastic bottle over it.
"bruce snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
I bet it does. It's probably just seized. What car?
Are you sure? The one on my car appears to be the same, but it's just seized solid.
Mike P
Its a 2001 Micra. But I think the aerial is an after-market fit by the previous owner.
bruce
bruce snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com formulated the question :
If they don't fold flat, they will often unscrew from the base.
I meant bend and stay bent. If it's largely plastic, warming it with a heat gun might do it.
Could you use some elasticted cord to lash it down to the rear wiper when you're putting it in the garage.
Shorten it!
That's what he's trying to avoid, ennit?
(My bet is that it unscrews, too)
Had a similar problem with a roof mounted VHF radio antenna years ago, unscrewing each time (and forgetting to do so) became a pain. I just pop riveted a strip of flat galvanised steel strip, bent slightly each end. The antenna just bent one way or the other slightly and ran along the steel. Worked like that for two or three years.
Depends on the antenna length and door heights of course and just how the door is constructed but with mine the whole door tilts up and over in one piece. "Tiltadoor"
Kev.
Thus spake bruce snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com (bruce snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com) unto the assembled multitudes:
How about buying some of those "split shot" weights for fishing lines you can buy in fishing tackle shops - for example,
and fixing them near to the top of your aerial so that it bends down enough to clear the door? You could leave them permanently attached. You might need large ones, and quite a few of them, and it might look a bit odd, but apart from that... :-)
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