Radio/Antenna

Has anybody ever seen a radio antenna mounted in a well in the left fender ('73 SB, Mexican style bumpers). If so, how is the best way to route the cable into the car (right now it's going through one of the fender bolt holes, which I'd much rather use for holding on the fender and the bead!).

The best way to do it is by drilling a hole through the body and placing a rubber grommet in the hole to keep water out. The run the antenna wire through the grommet.

My antenna wire goes through the wheel well area in front of my dash area and comes through very high under the left side dash.

I'm going to rip out the radio antenna that's mounted in the "frenched in" well in the left front fender, then replace the fender bolts and snug down the beading. Then I've got to figure out where the best place will be to drill a hole through the body into the interior of the car to run a new radio antenna cable through. At the suggestion of someone on the RAMVA Newsgroup, I plan to insert a rubber grommet in the hole to keep water out.

On the driver’s side of the gas tank (this applies to my '73 beetle at least) there's an opening for a tube or wires to go under the car. If you route the antenna wire under the car and try to come up through that opening, you shouldn't have to drill any holes. Also use some sort of wire holds that stick to the body to keep it from touching the tire.

On most Beetles from about ‘68 on there is a hole in top the left quarter panel just in front of the windscreen for the antenna. It's an elongated oval shape, and the Beetle antenna has an oval shaped sealing rubber and chrome molding to blend in with this. The bottom of the antenna therefore sits in the 'black hole' inside the front hood, where the heater pipes rise to the windscreen vents.

I made the mistake of checking out the radio antenna, which is in a "frenched-in" well in the left front fender. I thought I'd just go ahead and remove it, since we're going to replace it anyway, and remove the cable from the fender bolt hole. Well, when I went to pull the antenna assembly down after removing the nut on the top, the whole well came away in my hands, leaving a gaping eliptical hole in the fender! The thing had been installed with some kind of material and adhesive, and it just came unglued. So now I have something new to learn (body work!) and a "I'll fix it" promise to keep to my son.

The '73 SB doesn't have a fuse designated for the radio. We attached our radio to #7.

Too easy. I kept feeling like something had to go wrong, but it didn't. I found two layers of metal where I drilled the new hole through the door jamb, but just kept right on going. Then used my handy-dandy clothes hanger with the hook on the end and pulled the cable right through.

I have the challenge of replacing the frenched-in antenna well in the left front fender. Some enterprising soul had installed the well and then run the antenna wire through one of the bolt holes for the fender! While taking out the antenna to fix this I inadvertently pulled out the entire well, so now I have a nice elliptical hole in his fender. The well had some kind of fabric glued to it which was in turn glued to the underside of the fender. It would be nice if I could just glue it back in place and then touch up the joint so it looks nice, but I don't have any idea of what kind of glue to use or if this is really the best way to do it.

I’ve got to tear into the repair of my frenched-in radio antenna well. It appears to have been put in with fiberglass mesh and epoxy on the underside of the fender. I would like to be able to get some epoxy and just glue it back in place up under there, but nagging questions like, ‘How to I hold it there until the epoxy dries’ keep cropping up during my twilight zone time. I suppose I could cut a 2 x 4 to the right length and wedge it under the well until the epoxy dried. More research and cogitation needed here.

Here's what is still on my plate -

Pull the radio out and check the fresh air fan controls. We have a nice little Alpine radio/CD player unit to put in. It doesn't have the necessary wiring, but I called a local auto sound shop and they said they could get it for us, no problem. So once I get the fan controls fixed (if I can), I guess I'll be replacing the radio.

Associated with the radio, of course, is the antenna. I need to get smart regarding body work; I'm thinking maybe some epoxy/fiberglass cement should work to put the antenna well back in. Gotta do some calling around.

Anyway, we are also thinking about the kind of antenna to put in. In VW Trends back in May they featured a beautiful little customized Bug that has a frenched-in antenna well just like our's, only there's is in the right rear fender while his is in the left front. They had installed a cute little antenna about 18" long with kind of a curly-que on the end -- something like this would look really "kewl" in our (providing that it gives adequate reception, of course. "Kewlness" has it's limits! :-).

I noticed you had speakers in the doors. I was using the original single speaker grill next to the speedo (mono radio!) until my nephew had the car and put speakers in the rear seat side panels and a $29.95 special from Radio Shack. I was a bit disappointed, as replacement panels are VERY hard to get here, and I wanted to keep the car as original as possible. And because the speaker grills project just a bit into the rear seat area, the kids complain they bump there thighs on them, and they do make it a bit more awkward to get the rear seat out, which is a tight fit at the best of times. A resto job for the future...

I thought the 'curly' antennae were for mobile phones etc. The curly bit 'loads' the antennae to make it think it's much longer, and so matches the '1/4 wave' length needed for max efficiency (dragging up ancient radio knowledge here).

Have you looked at the possibility of using the 'correct' mounting just under the left/bottom windscreen corner. The base of the antennae sits in the black hole on that side, and the connecting coax lead is very short. These usually have a simple lock down device (slot in the 'knob', with a special 'key' to pull it up) for a bit of security.

I installed our speakers in the doors. I put screws in them to hold the covers in place just today (they kept falling off).

About the 'correct' mounting just under the left/bottom windscreen corner -- the trouble is, I'm stuck with that elliptical hole in the left front fender where the antenna well goes. I would prefer to use the ‘correct' mounting, but we kinda gotta play the hand we're dealt. Besides, it's "cool!"

I went to a custom auto shop in town and showed them my problem with the radio antenna well. I talked to a very knowledgeable young man who gave me all the particulars on how I can fiberglass the thing back into place, with materials readily available from NAPA. I need to clean both surfaces very well, then apply the resin to both and stick it in place, holding it with a 2x4 or something so my arm doesn't go to sleep. Then after about 24 hours, rough up the surface again and apply some more resin, then a layer of fiberglass mesh, and then more resin. That should hold it for the life of the car, the guy says. Cool!...

I journeyed over to a car stereo place that sells Alpine electronics. My son was given an Alpine radio/CD player and he wanted to put it in the Bug. Well, the first thing I found out is that it has to go into a bracket that is fitted with all the wiring and stuff (the unit is removable from the car); they want $120 for the bracket! So much for that!

So I got busy with my wire brush attachment on my drill on the underside of the fender around the hole for the antenna well. Then I cut a piece of fiberglass mesh the right size, and mixed up the goop -- what a mess! I finally did get the well set up under there with lots of resin to hopefully hold it on and the scissors jack (on a couple of blocks) to hold it in place. The next morning I removed the jack from under the antenna well. Lo and behold! It stuck! So I cut another piece of fiberglass cloth and mixed up some more goop and put on another layer. Now I need to sand and putty and resand and paint the well/fender interface. Then, of course, I must get the stereo unit repaired or replaced and a new antenna installed.

I went down to the local auto parts store last night and bought a pint can of body putty. As soon as I have a couple of minutes to rub together I’m going to work on getting the well/fender interface cleaned up, smoothed out and repainted.

The antenna itself: Yesterday I bought a new antenna to install in the antenna well. I still need to figure out the routing for the cable. It needs to go up and around towards the front, with maybe a little device of some sort to hold it in place inside the wheel well. Then into the trunk somehow and on through the firewall to connect to the radio. I noticed that there is a hole through the firewall behind where the radio sits with a grommet in it -- I don’t know where it goes, but it sure would be handy for the antenna cable. I need to do some investigating.

First thing I did was to sand and putty and sand again the antenna well. Result is pretty good, if I do say so myself. Then I tackled the installation of the antenna itself. No mean trick getting it from the antenna in the left front fender to the rear of the stereo unit. There is a hole right behind the stereo with a rubber grommet in it -- it goes into the little chamber (fresh air box) in the trunk the houses the windshield wiper motor and the fresh air fan. So I poked the end of the antenna cable (I had two pieces) through the hole from the rear, then I had to drill a hole in the left side of the chamber so the antenna could get out.

Then the fun part. I installed the antenna in the antenna well -- it looks really cool. Now to get the antenna cable from the antenna up into the trunk where it can connect with it's mate. First I poked a stiff piece of wire down through a hole on the left side of the gas tank that several other wires and the speedo cable go through. Found the wire under the car; attached some 16 gauge wire to it and pulled the wire through into the trunk. The attached the end of the antenna cable to the wire and pulled it up into the trunk. A little fiddly at the last bit of a tight squeeze, but made it.

I had a close look at our stereo unit. I think I told you it's been playing one side of the tape at about double speed. I figured it had to have something to do with the capstan, as that's what controls the tape speed. So I got to poking around, and sure enough, there was a little thread wrapped around the bottom of the capstan. So I removed that and took it out to the car to test -- now it played double speed on both sides! So, back to the workbench. I held the light just right and looked at the capstan from the side -- it just didn't look right. So I got a toothpick so as not to score it and started poking around. All of a sudden things started unraveling by the time I was through I removed about two feet of tape that had been wrapped around the capstan during a past tape-eating episode! Then I cleaned it up, lubricated it a bit with a little WD40 on the end of a Q-Tip, and tested it again. Whaddaya know! It works! A little flutter that I don't know what to do about, but other than that it works just fine. And the radio works, too -- the new antenna draws in quite a few channels.

I Drilled a little hole up in the left wheel well and screwed a little metal bracket in to hold the antenna cable up and out of the way. My son is delighted with the radio -- it has never worked before for lack of an antenna. I need to go over to the car stereo place this afternoon and get a piece of black plastic to use in mounting the stereo unit into the dash.

I cleaned the internals of the stereo unit with alcohol, getting the most dirt (but even then not very much) off of the roller that impinges on the capstan and pinches the tape against it. The cleaning didn't make any difference -- there is still a very noticeable and disturbing wobble, and a definite whish-whish-whish sound while the tape is running that seems to coincide with the wobble. The whish-whish-whish sound seems to be coming from the capstan (but it's hard to tell). There was no such noise until I removed the tape that was wrapped around the capstan.

There is definitely something wrong in there, but I can’t figure out what it is. I’m hesitant to lubricate anything, as I’m afraid some of the residual lubricant (WD40 or whatever) will get on the tape and ruin it. My son says he will buy a new stereo if it comes to that -- about $150, and you-know-who would install it. I think we're going to end up replacing this unit.

Last night we went to an electronics shop, where my son picked out a nice little Panasonic radio/tape deck with a removable face and capability for later addition of a CD changer -- $150 (with the maintenance agreement and tax the total came to almost $200). The thing I like about this stereo purchase is that they install it free! It sounds REALLY good -- much better than the old one -- glad we did it.

My son considered getting a CD player along with the radio, but I convinced him that it's really a better idea (IMHO) to tape the CDs -- the sound quality is almost as good (I don't know anyone who could hear the difference is a noisy Bug!), and you can always tape the CD over again if the tape gets ruined bouncing around in the car. So that's what he did. His new unit has the capability of adding a CD changer (like to put under the seat or somewhere) -- for another $250, of course!

I had a good look at your antenna. It looks 'odd' to my eye, but then mine has always been in the original position. BTW, I can't see that rubber cover plug which is usually just in front of the left corner of the windscreen, for the VW antennae. Does it have one do you know? Filled in by the PO perhaps?

I'm sure. There is no evidence of where the stock antenna was. This new one is really good -- we were picking up my favorite FM station (Oldies 95.7) all the way to LaGrande, which is about 180 miles south of the Tri-Cities.

I still haven't figured out what to do about the radio antenna -- I'd enjoy any ideas.

Have you looked for the original hole just in front of and to the side of the windscreen on the left side? The original fitting has the base of the antennae going down into the black hole. Might have been covered up with body putty, since they all came with this hole as far as I know. Mine came without a radio and had an oval shaped cover plate there.

I just called the paint shop and asked them to open up that hole for me so I can install the antenna there. I think that will be best. I'll find a "cool" black antenna to put there.

They look quite good in that spot. Make sure it's designed for the VW so the cover plate covers the hole properly -- it's a special shaped fitting, I bet Rocky Mountain Motor Works (now Mid America Motor Works) would have them.

I wish you could see the antenna well. Solid steel cylinder, welded in place, then finished beautifully. They painted the underside, too. I'm going to go to an auto audio shop and find a nice antenna to put in it.