Aerial Modifications
The smart aerial is too long, makes too much noise, distracts as you drive and doesn't even give a good reception. Let's make it look nice or make it functional.
Mod difficulty:
Mod Credit: Various
the quality of the radio reception to be poor. Also they get stolen and the thread rots.
oxidised that the whole thing just fell off. This is a classic reaction between two metals.
Reduce The Size Of The Original
I credit
Unscrew the original aerial by twisting it anticlockwise, you may need to use pliers.
Pull the top off of the aerial and put it to one side.
Decide on how long you want the aerial to be. I don't listen to the radio so
mine is short.Using a pair of pliers or cutter, cut a section off of the aerial.
Measure one inch from the end and strip back the black insulation.
Place a dab of glue on the tip of the aerial and replace the plastic cover.
Using A Different Aerial
Thanks to Tony (666Devil) from The Smart Club forum for allowing me to host his idea.
He decided to look at other car aerials and eventually settled on the Honda FR-V.
The design is very understated so the soft lines follow the smart very well.
You need to go to your local Honda dealer and get:
As you can see, it is much shorter than the standard smart aerial and nicer looking.
The Honda aerial has the correct thread for the smart but needs a little modification to fit.
Take a sharp blade and carefully cut a 5mm ring off the bottom of the aerial.
It is very easy to do as the part you are cutting is soft rubber.
As you can see, with the 5mm cut off, the fitments look the same.
Screw the newly modified aerial in place.
The rubber base of the new aerial helps seal the thread from water so it should last.
Patrick contacted me to say that the Honda S2000 and Civic Type-R aerial fit with no cutting.
Fit An Aftermarket Aerial
The facts are simple, if you reduce the size of the aerial, you reduce the reception.
That isn't always as bad as it sounds, radio is low quality anyway so if you live
in a good reception area you can afford to lose a little bit of length on the aerial.
Generally, aftermarket aerials are designed to look good, radio reception is an afterthought.
Well it seems now you can have it both ways. Chuck sent us a link for an interesting product.
This aftermarket extending aerial is available in black or silver and because the Dollar is doing so badly against the Pound, you can buy it for about £8 including delivery. Extend the aerial for when you are in poor reception areas and leave it retracted when you are parked up.
We all know what happens to retractable aerials, they get snapped by idiots.
This design is suitably stealthy so that it isn't obviously retractable.
Not all of the aerials are retractable, this one is type 'B'. Type 'J' and 'X' are also retractable.
Extra Information
The smart has a 5mm thread which is very common on Japanese motors and others.
Always apply a bit of copper grease to the thread before installing it.
This stops the bi-metal reaction which quickly destroys the thread or seizes it solid.
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