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California98Civic · 12-23-2013, 07:24 PM

Minor mod completion:

I decided that two-and-a-half years with black duct tape over the whole where the antenna used to emerge from the A Pillar is enough. I had thought I wanted to bondo and paint, but I want a more reversible solution, since I want to consider this as a way to wire in roof-mounted solar panels one day (if I ever do it).

So, I cleaned the old tape gunk off with "Goof-Off", took apart the OEM plastic fitting and cut some sheet aluminum to fit the hard rubber bottom grommet piece, drilled holes in the aluminum sheet for the OEM screws in the original spots, and plasti-dipped the whole unit with three layers to help seal it up. Lastly, clear silicone indoor/outdoor caulk around the out edge. Here it is, process and result. I'm confident it'll be water tight for years. There is also a layer of aluminum tape under the rubber grommet (can't see it, of course). PICS:

james

12-23-2013, 07:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
California98Civic Cyborg ECU Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Coastal Southern California Posts: 6,299 Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe Team Honda 90 day: 66.42 mpg (US) Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike 90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US) Thanks: 2,373 Thanked 2,172 Times in 1,469 Posts	Antenna delete blanking Minor mod completion: I decided that two-and-a-half years with black duct tape over the whole where the antenna used to emerge from the A Pillar is enough. I had thought I wanted to bondo and paint, but I want a more reversible solution, since I want to consider this as a way to wire in roof-mounted solar panels one day (if I ever do it). So, I cleaned the old tape gunk off with "Goof-Off", took apart the OEM plastic fitting and cut some sheet aluminum to fit the hard rubber bottom grommet piece, drilled holes in the aluminum sheet for the OEM screws in the original spots, and plasti-dipped the whole unit with three layers to help seal it up. Lastly, clear silicone indoor/outdoor caulk around the out edge. Here it is, process and result. I'm confident it'll be water tight for years. There is also a layer of aluminum tape under the rubber grommet (can't see it, of course). PICS: james Attached Thumbnails __________________ See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread. Last edited by California98Civic; 12-24-2013 at 05:31 PM.. Reason: added link to my original delete post from May 2011