924Board.org

[924guy]

Ive long been a fan of the small roof mount antenna's, even before they were "en vogue" , and ive finally gotten around to sticking one on my 931. I picked up a hybrid amplified fuba type antenna off ebay for about $40 including shipping.



Theres a bit more to the process than simply drilling a hole in the roof. after close inspection , i found i had to remove the side upholstery trim over the side windows, which unscrews easily enough. then i had to remove the inner sunroof seal as well as the hatch seal (just in the areas involved, no need to pull them completely off.) you have to remove the sunroof mounting plates as well.






After Cleaning the edges of the upholstery with citrus cleaner, to both remove adhesive, and soften the material, i carefully pulled back the edges. they are lightly glued on, but the material is old and in some spots, rather easily torn if your not careful. be especially carefull around the hatch seal, i found some UV deterioration of my fabric in that area.

Once i pulled the fabric back far enough to work (its not necessary to remove it all) i found the rear of the roof had a chanel, surrounded by foam . to my delight, there was also a factory hole punched dead center in that chanel.






Since the roof cross support chanel prevents direct access to the roof itself, an access hole needs to be cut. I decided to cut a hole the same size as the hatch hinge bolt access spaces, so i could use the same type rectangular plug for a better factory looking result once its all back together. i measured and masked off where i needed to cut. using the factory hole as a guide. i figured out that due to clearance issued, access must be forward of that hole.




I used my dremel with a cut off wheel to cut the hole, and found a nice surprise once the metal was removed.




there was already a provision for a center mount antenna in the roof reinforcement bottom layer. pretty cool. i was thrilled, less "proper measuring stress "

then it was just a matter of centering on that , and drilling though. i taped off the top first, to prevent the paint from lifting as much as possible. i used a 1/8 bit , to drill a pilot hole, and widened it out using several progressively larger bits until i had the proper sized hole.





then i ran the wires though, and attached the underside nut to the antenna. even though there is a "space" there for it, this was still not easy, access is very limited, and theres no way to get a wrench in there. i used a long nose plier to tighten it up, nothing else, including my fingers would work properly. it was a pita even to get the nut properly threaded.



and here it is, the hard parts done.






the antenna cable can be run through the channel, then down through the quarter panel interior to the rug, and under it and forward to the radio. i still have that to do, as well as to reinstall the upholstery. Upholstery adhesive is a must to get everything back correctly. ill post some final pictures when i finish that part up.
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[skemcin]

nicely done - I've been waiting to do that to mine - glad you posted this as a reference. I have my fender antenna removed and its mounting will "disappear" before it goes to paint.


Thanks bunch.
_________________
924.org (no time to complete)
9249206346 - 89k – new shifter bushings, belts, running well.
9249206347 - 8k – waiting its resurrection, no power at the fuel pump and fuse #7 blows w/power

[924guy]

okay, wired it up today. i snaked the coax (siamesed with power wire for the amp in the antenna) through the support chanel, and to the overhead rail that runs over the drivers door. it was a bit of a pita , as there is only a small access space. i used a coathanger to snake the wires through.



i really should of stuck with the original plan of running the wires down to the carpet, and forward from there, it owuld have been much easier... But, instead i took the harder road and ran the wiring above the drivers door, and down the a-pillar to the dash. I was sure to put some tape strip over it to make sure it wouldnt bounce around and annoy me later on.



and after i put the upholstery back together, finished it off with a factory plug. i couldve left it covered over, but at some point i will need to access the antenna again (like when the car gets painted) and i thought this was good solution, and looks almost like it was put there at the factory.



and a little better picture of the antenna..



_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[ideola]

Nicely done, and great pix! I love these little tutorials! Wish there were more of them, and a permanent vault to put them into...
_________________
erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[skemcin]

can you give me the specifics on the antenna you used - I like the look of that would and would probably prefer to use that particular one since it seemed to have worked so well for you.

Thanks in advance.
_________________
924.org (no time to complete)
9249206346 - 89k – new shifter bushings, belts, running well.
9249206347 - 8k – waiting its resurrection, no power at the fuel pump and fuse #7 blows w/power

[924guy]

i picked it up from this guy http://www.locustom.com/shark2_kit.htm who sells on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33639&item=7970629001&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

for a bit less than his website., i cant attest to the reception claims yet(cars not drivable at the moment) , but it seems good quality. I have a fuba on my truck and it works great. He ships quickly. i think i got mine in four days or so.

im glad you guys found my writeup usefull. I searched and searched and couldnt find anything befofre i started,,so i figured id keep a record and hopefully save someone else some headaches if they wanted to do this as well. I think its a nice modern touch, and looks so much better than a fender mount aerial, and hopefully will work better than a windsheild tape type .

Another interesting find, above the interior light , in my 82 at least, theres another circle cut out like pictured above, which could also accomodate a fuba type antenna, or sat shark antenna... the clearance would need to be verified but i think it might work, and its much easier to get too since the front header panel is bolt on..
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[Gram]

Yes, my roof aerial has been mounted in front of the sunroof by the PO. Think I'd prefer the appearance of it at the back but I doubt I'll change it.
_________________
'82 924 NA Euro (hers)
'98 Audi A4 TDI (ours)

[WhoDak]

[skemcin]

[924guy]

just a short update; i finished the under dash wire routing and plugged in the antenna last night, including the electric signal booster (built into the antenna base, just a power wire) to the antenna charge line of the radio. the reception on this antenna is outstanding. Given the fact that my old factory hirche power antenna was shot, its hard to do an accurate comparision, but i can say i can pull in at least twice as many stations now, maybe more than that even, so im very happy with the results in both looks and function (and itll save a few pounds of weight as well) so it was well worth the investment in both time and $$ to complete this project. Its motivated me to update my speakers as well, and i just ordered a set of infinity reference plate speakers for the interior quarter panels, and am deciding whether im going to replace my 6x9 sony explode speakers (in boxes in the hatch), with another set of 6x9's or go another route (theyve about had it)... i might even hard mount my cd changer and finally wire up the amp i have, who knows
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[WhoDak]

Let me know how those Infinity plate speakers sound. I'm considering mounting a pair as my fronts in the doors. My factory rears aren't even hooked up so I just ran all new wires and brought them into the hatch where I've got some Pioneer 6x9's mounted in the boxes. So for the time being I have no fronts .
_________________
Mike
'82 924 N/A
'91 Toyota Pickup SR5 4x4 Xtra cab

[924zombie]

Ive just done a similiar roof mount,and yes trying to do the nut is a complete pain,,the amount of times i`d thought i`d done it as tight as it would go,then it would go some more

[924guy]

lol, thats the hardest part of the job... but doesnt it look great??
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[ideola]

I picked one of these up and will be installing it on the NA. I'm going to route mine a little differently, and I'm finally going to get the sound deadening material installed behind the two rear mounted 4x6s while I'm at it. Great idea, 924guy, it will look awesome when it's done. Thanks again for the how-to.

I'm looking for suggestions on some sort of a plug or patch to cover the hole in the driver side fender...I'll be removing the mast and motor from that spot, but don't want a big hole. I don't mind putting a plug of some sort in there (as opposed to doing a more permanent weld or bondo type repair). Thought I would call on the ingenuity of the board to see what might work...
_________________
erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[924zombie]