Removing original aerial and putting on a bee sting

[Gibbs-]

hi guys

My current aerial is a bit knackered - its not bent or anything but when I'm driving around at home (near london) I keep losing the stations like Capital - but there is strong reception where I live and this doesn't happen in any other car I've been in.
Have heard the aerials are a little tricky to remove - but would you guys think its worth removing the current long one from the right hand windscreen strut and putting a bee sting on the roof in the middle at the back?
Think it would look better, don't know if it would work better. Have had a little look around and cant see any guides people have posted up doing this - do you know of any?

Thanks a lot! Looking for little fixes I can do to my car as I am a student and have no money!

 

[Daniel]

It's not massively hard, just awkward. You have to remove the headliner and driver side A pillar to get to the ariel wire. When you take the base of the ariel out, the best thing to do is to filler it in, sand it smooth, then do a clean respray. However, I don't think the cable for the ariel is actually long enough to reach the back of the car, unless you get a new cable. That's why I've only ever seen them in the middle at the front of the car, just above the windscreen (which doesn't look to bad). Other than that, just a case of drilling a hole in the roof for the new ariel base

 

[Gibbs-]

With the respray - would that have to be a proper respray or just a touch up type thing? having to do all the work myself because of lack of money - and i've never really done anything bodywork related

 

[Daniel]

With the respray - would that have to be a proper respray or just a touch up type thing? having to do all the work myself because of lack of money - and i've never really done anything bodywork related

The respray could be done yourself. Just try to find the exact colour of your car (a plain rattle can will do), a can of primer, and laquer. Sand the the filler smooth with the rest of the roof, and sand some of the paint around it so it's a bit rough. Then just a few coats of primer, sanding between coats. A few coats of the paint, waiting for each coat to be touch dry. Then finally a few layers of laquer. Then wait for it to be completely dry, maybe a day just to be safe, then polish out any imperfections, and hey presto! (Y)