Shark fin antenna
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 24
Likes: 1
Shark fin antenna
There are tons of these cool little antennae on newer cars. Thought I'd like to put one on my '03 Z06. But, apparently, you just can't drill a hole and plug your antenna lead into it. The OEM ones on eBay are very model-specific and will NOT work on other cars. Please explain what's going on. Anyone tried this?
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No, and really have no desire to put one on my C5. But do as you please - if you think it would look good, go for it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
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From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
On a Corvette you don't need to expose the antenna, you can mount it inside the body. My is on the top right corner of the dash inside the windshield and it works perfectly. Plus I think those sharkfin antennas need to be mounted on a metal roof. I am not positive but I think they need a metal ground plane.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 24
Likes: 1
On a Corvette you don't need to expose the antenna, you can mount it inside the body. My is on the top right corner of the dash inside the windshield and it works perfectly. Plus I think those sharkfin antennas need to be mounted on a metal roof. I am not positive but I think they need a metal ground plane.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 24
Likes: 1
I found this one that says it's AM/FM only. That's all I need. Looks legit, but who knows. Just tried to attach a bookmark on my iPad, but wouldn't work. The eBay item # is 321420709737.
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Joined: Dec 1999
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From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
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C5 coupes had the AM/FM antenna in the windshield and rear hatch glass. The convertible had a power antenna and the Z06 had a fixed mast.
Not sure where the antenna was located for the OnStar system which included a GM cell phone system. But that was all the C5 had for audio.
The "shark fin" is used on other GM vehicles for OnStar and things like GPS or cell phone. My Silverado has separate antennas for OnStar and SIrius/XM There is a fixed mast antenna for the AM/FM radio. To get the best FM radio reception in cars, you need a mast that is 31" long.
Not sure where the antenna was located for the OnStar system which included a GM cell phone system. But that was all the C5 had for audio.
The "shark fin" is used on other GM vehicles for OnStar and things like GPS or cell phone. My Silverado has separate antennas for OnStar and SIrius/XM There is a fixed mast antenna for the AM/FM radio. To get the best FM radio reception in cars, you need a mast that is 31" long.
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Joined: May 2004
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From: PA
C5 coupes had the AM/FM antenna in the windshield and rear hatch glass. The convertible had a power antenna and the Z06 had a fixed mast.
Not sure where the antenna was located for the OnStar system which included a GM cell phone system. But that was all the C5 had for audio.
The "shark fin" is used on other GM vehicles for OnStar and things like GPS or cell phone. My Silverado has separate antennas for OnStar and SIrius/XM There is a fixed mast antenna for the AM/FM radio. To get the best FM radio reception in cars, you need a mast that is 31" long.
Not sure where the antenna was located for the OnStar system which included a GM cell phone system. But that was all the C5 had for audio.
The "shark fin" is used on other GM vehicles for OnStar and things like GPS or cell phone. My Silverado has separate antennas for OnStar and SIrius/XM There is a fixed mast antenna for the AM/FM radio. To get the best FM radio reception in cars, you need a mast that is 31" long.
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Last edited by MY03C5Z; Dec 19, 2016 at 11:17 AM.
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, try it before drilling and see if it work and let us know please.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 249
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
On my '03 Z06 I completely removed my antenna from the rear fender mount. I took the full length antenna and laid it down sideways inside the rear bumper, horizontally going across sideways. It actually works as well as stock which is good enough for my purposes, I only use satellite radio, bluetooth and GPS. I've mentioned this many times before but I don't think anyone has noticed because there has been no interest in it. The best thing about it is it gets rid of the RC car look. The hole in the fender was filled in perfectly.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 24
Likes: 1
On my '03 Z06 I completely removed my antenna from the rear fender mount. I took the full length antenna and laid it down sideways inside the rear bumper, horizontally going across sideways. It actually works as well as stock which is good enough for my purposes, I only use satellite radio, bluetooth and GPS. I've mentioned this many times before but I don't think anyone has noticed because there has been no interest in it. The best thing about it is it gets rid of the RC car look. The hole in the fender was filled in perfectly.