Make a shorty antenna
 

Why pay $20 for an antenna when you can cut yours down to size?

1:Remove antenna from car.

2:Wrap antenna with electricle tape just below were you want to cut.(This helps keep the small wire attached)

3:Cut antenna flush with top of tape with a cut off wheel. A hacksaw should also work.

4:Use 1/8" rubber vacuum cap ($1.49 for 5 at AutoZone) as a tip. Twist cap as you push it on antenna. (this will push the tape down)

5:Remove tape.

6:Reinstall.
7:ENJOY your shorty.:beer:

:cssNET:

Approved

I did the exact thing. I cut mine where I wanted it, grounded off the end a little bit to put the ball back on, got some black touch up paint for the tip and it looks perfect.

Pics of your final product??

What length did you make it?

thats been a popular choice here for awhile,i did the same the day I boulght the car.LOL

I think I made mine 13ish inches. I don't have a close up but you can get the idea here. I can take a close up whenever I get around with it. I think it looks much better than buying one honestly. I like how the small wire wraps around it. It is much stiffer now too since it is shorter.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/100_0898.jpg

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/100_0895.jpg

Looks good BriantheLion26.

Damn you Silver Cobalts. Damn all of you. I wanted that color so bad.

nice how to.. short and sweet.

any reception probs? i like to listen to the radio, this would be a problem for me.

I did the same thing. cut 16" out of the middle and put the ball back on. little touch up paint and even a clear coat and it looks amazing.

Depends on the area. In RI i like listening to a Boston station so i go in and out, but at 14" the local stations come in perfect. when I go home to NY I get every channel perfect

thanks for that speedy response... im off to autozone ;)

I actually used a dab of liquid nails clear silicon sealant to connect the two (same thing i used to reseal my headlights) and it has held through 3 or 4 nasty thunderstorms, crazy winds and two carwashes.

I do not know how to post pics. but I cut mine to 8.5" I pick up FM from about 60 miles away but I do got static sometimes. My wife has a Jeep Liberty. I cut hers to 11.5" and she has good reception.

I cut mine to 4inches and my reception is fine.

It depends on your location... lot more things blocking reception coming out of boston and in RI.

I have sirius so i use the fm transmitter so I don't even need the antenna at all. I really don't think it would effect my local fm radio channels but I never use them so sorry I really can't help you guys much. I seriously think it looks 100% better and it honestly took, maybe 10 minutes. Saw zaw baby. :lol:

I just took my whole antenna off and put a 1/4 vaccum lug over the threaded mount, looks sweet, and I hate the radio anyhow, to many commercials, although in Va, reception was of course, a problem, but in Kansas, I pick up the stations just fine.

This was my first mod, when I bought the car... heres a pic:
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/files/6/0/9/2/jgf.JPG

i just did the same thing. it looks great now. no big ass antenna in the way.

i just swapped mine over from my grand prix :)

can u say "ghetto"/..nah j/k

Step1 - Bolt cutters
Step2 - Vaccum Cap
Step3 - Open Beer of choice.
Step4 - Pretend you're a conductor with left over antenna part
Step5 - Whip unruly children about the neighborhood with above antenna part.
Step6 - Discard evidence

lmao, Definitely my plans for the afternoon

i did this the other day. its easy as hell, and you can't tell that its not supposed to be like that.

I think I'm going to do this... looks a lot better.
I'll ask again, how's reception?? I live near NYC so reception shouldn't be a problem, but i'd like to hear more responses..

I did this a few months back, but I never got around to posting it. :lol: It works great and looks a hell of a lot better!

I was expecting the vacuum cap to be some lil round ball, but the only one I found was a longer piece with a round tip. Is that the right one?

That's the one. If you PM me your e-mail I wil send you a pic of it done that way.

good write up. especially considering NO ONE makes a shorty for the '07. thanks bro...

sorry if i missed something, but hows the reception?

Ahh, I just used this how to, too, and it's fricking awesome! I made mine about 12". I'm disappointed with how thick the vacuum cap is, but whatever. Much better now that it's shorter!

I did the same thing a little while back, except i found an old tv antenna in my garage. i just took the plastic cap off of that and glued it onto my new shorty.

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...6/SA400532.JPG

for you guys who reattached the black ball to the top of your new shorty....how did you do it? and did you leave a little bit of the original antenna on there so you werent just trying to place the little black ball on the new antenna????

my reception did not change. and i cut mine down pretty low ( probably like 10inches)

I ground both sides down to make a flat surface. on the ball it was ground to make a flat spot. then I just used liquid nails. once it set i gave it a quick shot of clear coat and reattached.

my reception in RI struggles in picking up boston stations but not much more than the stocker did. in NY my reception was the absolute same as stock. I chopped mine to 13" it is at the same height as my roof.

cool bro thanks alot....im off to do mine....ill post pics when its done

me 2

anyone have a pic of these vacume caps?!

not bad looks cool

PM me your email and I will send you pic from my phone.

do you have to glue these on? is there anything that might crimp on or something?