Rotten Antenna

[Queen]

Hello Folks,

So, my antenna needs serious replacing. I have tossed around buying a dummy antenna $(10), and/or a cover up ($30). Does the antenna provide radio reception? Thanks.

[nordwulf]

No, the radio antennas are in the rear window (sedan) or side windows (wagon). The shark fin on top was used for a mobile phone/GPS (and perhaps Onstar) but not for the radio. Replacing with a dummy will be fine.

[Queen]

Thanks, Wulf.

[Queen]

No, the radio antennas are in the rear window (sedan) or side windows (wagon). The shark fin on top was used for a mobile phone/GPS (and perhaps Onstar) but not for the radio. Replacing with a dummy will be fine.

Hey Wulf! Before I start peeling off this rotten rubber, I noticed that there Is a metal antenna underneath, identical in shape to the rubber. Is that piece screwed in? Is it straightforward to remove? Thanks.

[nordwulf]

This thread has all the information you need for replacing the antenna: http://saabworld.net/f29/saab-9-5-ro...ement-wis-454/

I have never done it myself but doesn't seem too difficult. Good luck!

[Mike Brennan]

On one of mine I just slobbered a bunch of black silicone all over it and smoothed it out. Looks fine.
On another I removed it by dropping the side of the headliner, reach in cut the wire and removed the bolt. Then I put a plug in the square hole in the roof with a bunch of silicone sealant. There is a mark on the paint where the thing was, but the car is 15 years old. It's not like it's going to disqualify me from my pending appointment as head of the CIA.

[Queen]

On one of mine I just slobbered a bunch of black silicone all over it and smoothed it out. Looks fine.
On another I removed it by dropping the side of the headliner, reach in cut the wire and removed the bolt. Then I put a plug in the square hole in the roof with a bunch of silicone sealant. There is a mark on the paint where the thing was, but the car is 15 years old. It's not like it's going to disqualify me from my pending appointment as head of the CIA.

I bought this dummy from eBay...

[Mike Brennan]

Ya, well that's ok too, eh.

[Pbuck1]

Nice look !! Whats the part number ??

[Pbuck1]

Here's my (temporary) solution to the awful looking rotting shark tooth -
Bought a can of plasti-dip from the hardware store. This comes in 4 colors - black, red, yellow and blue.


This is the antenna. nasty looking thing. The place where I bought the car a year ago sprayed some rubber coating on it at my request. Discovered they didn't do a very good masking job once I got up on a step ladder to look straight down on the roof. The original rubber is so dried out that bits of it flaked off with barely any effort. The problem with this repair is that because the underlying rubber sheath is in such poor condition its just a matter of time before I Will have to replace the thing. I slipped some pieces of aluminum foil underneath.


I used small paint brushes, like what I used to paint model planes when my son was little. If you do it this way, buy a bunch because they won't be any good for anything when you're done.
1st coat. I found it helped to look down on the part with a light at 90º. The pin holes were more apparent.


At one point while walking past the table where I had the supplies I kicked the table leg & knocked over the can. The coating ran off the edge of the plastic sheet I had put down. DOH!


I put on a 2nd coat, and will do a 3rd one 'soon' with a 1" wide brush.