2001 v70 2.4T External Antenna Hack For The Win!

[packetfire]

I live in NYC, so when returning home, one is well advised to listen to the traffic reports to find out about minor inconveniences that impact traffic, like the 2nd Presidential visit in less than a week (that was just last Tuesday) or Japanese monster-movie monsters knocking down the Brooklyn Bridge (not really, just construction, but the effect was about the same).

But I own a P2 Volvo, and despite providing the correct 10 volts to the antenna amps (search for it, it is true - Volvo has a hidden undocumented 10-volt power supply in its stock radios, which is why that extra wire is in the antenna connector next to the usual shielded antenna wire and why aftermarket radios don't seem to pick up stations), my aftermarket radio reception was about the same as the stock Volvo radio reception in a 2001 v70, lousy due to the crappy antenna design.

My 1982 245 had a fine antenna, and I could get the NYC traffic reports on AM radio as far away as PA or southern NJ. The v70 could not pick them up at half that distance. So, I installed an antenna from a 1982 245 on my v70. Crazy? Stupid? Whatever, I now get much better reception, about the same as I got in my 245 for 32 years.

The antenna is mounted to the strip that fills the channel beside the windshield that runs up to the load rails. Removing it without damaging the clips requires some care with a putty knife - after removing the load rail on the driver's side, pull up on the rubber gasket between the strip and the windshield, and slide the BLUE plastic fellows toward the front of the car. The white and black ones are attached, don't try to move them. The strip can then slide up and off toward the back of the car, one hopes without breaking any of the clips in the process.

One can then decide where to drill the strip, I mounted mine just above the point where the strip goes behind the rubber triangle that covers the junction between fender, windshield pillar, and hood. Drill smaller than the size of the threaded fitting on the antenna base, as the base will thread right into the plastic and not especially need a nut on the bottom side. If you trial this with the full antenna (and you really >> DO << want to place and fit, and maybe make a cardboard stand-in for the strip before you drill it!) you will see that the existing base will not be flush against the strip, and you will have to cut a wedge-shaped section from some PVC pipe and paint it black or your car's color.

You can also place the plastic stand-off that supports the top of the non-telescoping section of the antenna, and find a good site for the screw hole (so that the edge of the base lines up with the windshield side of the strip). So, you are drilling at an angle for the base, and perpendicular to the strip for the stand-off. You will need a nut that is almost as thin as a washer to fit on there but the thread is a common thread, either 5/16ths or 3/8ths coarse, I forget which.

But you do NOT drill anything but the strip! The antenna cable runs down between the door and the inner fender, and runs in beside the cable harness for the driver's door. I just notched the large grommet that surrounds the rubber cable sleeve to let the antenna cable go beside the sleeve into the car, but one could also run the antenna into the rubber sleeve. Either way, the easy way to do this it to simply remove the door. It takes two people to put the door back on the hinges, but one person can remove a door, as long as he can lift 80 lbs or so. Some silicone sealant can be used around the antenna cable to make a nice watertight seal.

The cable runs into the area above the ODBII connector, and can run right across the back of the dashboard under the steering wheel and into the radio area, where it is just long enough to plug in. Not a lot of slack in the cable, perhaps one might buy an extension - they are fairly common.

I also replaced the stock screw that holds the antenna shaft to the base, as the Phillips-head screw just screamed "steal me"! So I used a "security screw" that uses a very oddball bit (the screw is a 5mm, 0.8 thread screw). So, now, only those with larger toolkits can steal my antenna.

Replacing the strip involves using the same putty knife to slide the plastic clips up and toward the back of the car to lock the strip in place. Pretty easy if you paid attention to the clips before you took them off the metal rivets that they slide onto.

Now I get weak college indy stations from afar that play Norwegian Death Metal and old Kraftwerk albums from the 1970s, I get all the HD FM subchannels and HD AM, too. But best of all, I can get traffic reports far enough away to have an actual strategy of which bridge or tunnel to take based upon the every-ten-minute reports of the traffic reporters well before I must make a decision.

Google maps? Waze? INRIX? Garmin GPS traffic? Don't make me laugh - those aren't going to tell me about the GW Bridge Upper level vs the Lower level, or if the Holland tunnel backup is before the tool booths (so, cut through Jersey City) or beyond the tool booths (abandon hope, or take the Lincoln Tunnel instead).

And it looks pretty good too! Fully extended, it is not much higher than the load rail, so it will not get in the way of most luggage-rack loads. Got the antenna used on eBay for $25, but the seller was a typical eBay liar - he said that the action was "a little stiff", but it was a bent antenna that had to be tediously straightened.

[JRL]

Some pictures would be awfully nice