For those of us that have been reading all the posts about creating your own shorty antenna bu cutting the stock one down, can anyone explain how to get the ball from the top piece that was removed so it can be attached to the remaining antenna?

 

Put the cut off piece in a bench vice facing down...... get 2 hammers. Take one hammer and slide it down the piece until the claw is resting against the ball. Take the other hammer and strike the first hammer firmly and cleanly, the ball will pop right off.

Lastly, grab a few beers and begin looking for the ball as after it pops off, it will bounce around the floor and end up somewhere next to impossible to find.

 

I hope I laugh as much at your comment when I'm actually performing the search Tom

 

Hahahahaha....... It really is an easy mod.... the ball will pop right off with enough pressure. Then grind the remaining shaft down so that you can press the ball back on. Touch up with some black spray paint and VIOLA, you have yourself a cheap (free?) mod that works/looks great.

 

Put a little tape firmly on the ball and loosely on the shaft. (that sounds dirty) It'll either keep it from flying off, or at least make it easier to find.

 

I don't see what the problem is with the stock antenna...I've had nearly 35 cars in my driving years and 99% of them had the antenna in the same spot...I guess I just sort of ignored it (got used to it)...

 

I actually laughed my *** off at that Tom. I was just reading along and boom there it was.

 

Too tall. Trim it to roofline to avoid it looking too short.

 

I agree with John. On a pickup a tall antenna at the roof line is fine and on a shorter Mustang a shorter antenna to match the roof line just looks right.

 

Yeah I visually marked where roofline was (for spot to cut the antenna)
took the antenna off, took 2 hammers, put the claw on the ball, one good whack with the other one to knock it off (tape helps it from flying as mentioned)

Cut on the mark that was measured, and used a dremel on it to clean it, plus make it slightly thinner for the ball to go on easier.
Glue the head on, then spray paint black if necessary.

 

I put a small plastic bag over the ball when I did mine...

 

Well, worked out fine, thanks! Even tried the bag trick, but it still got away... not too far though thankfully, I only had two beers left in the fridge at that time

BTW: I'm never gonna compete with you professional posters on here, but I personally find some significance in my post # '289' ! 302 is just around the corner lol

 

Good deal Al....

 

You're supposed to start drinking before you work!

 

That's my usual M.O. But this was a last minute mod and I had to be sure I had enouhg for afterwards in case the ball was more difficult to find!