Hidden radio antenna
 

1970 GTO convertible, I have an original AM/FM stereo that doesn't get good reception. It looks like the small wires that come from the windshield antenna are in bad shape. I'd rather not replace an otherwise good windshield just to get a new antenna. Does anyone know of any hidden antennas that would work? I want to keep stock appearance.

Almost 50 years ago I bought a self-stick inside-windshield antenna (J.C.Whitney?).

If the windshield is more than 10 years old, it's not a 'good' windshield. It most likely has all kinds of spidering on it at night when oncoming cars' lights hit it. Once you replace it, you will go 'oh wow!', betcha a million.

But, to further diag this, where is the wire look like it's in 'bad shape' ? Where it exits the glass where the plug is? Maybe post a pic.

You may want to check the piece that bolts to the cowl, that the antenna plugs into. Make sure the connection is clean, and is not damaged in any way.

That part has an inside piece as well, the antenna 'cord' that goes to the back of the radio. Those get beat up over time, and replacing that may be all you need. Not always fun to replace, but it would eliminate that as a possible cause, and is inexpensive.

Finally, it could be the internals of the radio itself. If it's an OE one, and you want it to work, you could send it off to be restored, but that's not inexpensive, and even when done, it will still just be a 50 yo OE radio.

EDIT: Also check for the ground strap on the cowl that makes contact with the hood when closed. That actually acts kind of like an antenna too.
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Is the reception poor on both AM and FM stations? If you’re getting no reception on AM stations and poor or weak reception on FM stations then you may just have an antenna connection problem (not plugged in).

Radio was restored by a member of the forums. I took the cowl molding off and verified that everything was plugged in. The reason I think it's the windshield wires, is they were bare and frayed. I put some liquid electrical tape on them to cover the exposed wire, so a picture wouldn't show much. No reception whatsoever on AM.

How old is the windshield?

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Not sure. I've only had the car three years, and it was in it when I bought it.

[QUOTE=HWYSTR455;6049156]If the windshield is more than 10 years old, it's not a 'good' windshield. It most likely has all kinds of spidering on it at night when oncoming cars' lights hit it. Once you replace it, you will go 'oh wow!', betcha a million.

But, to further diag this, where is the wire look like it's in 'bad shape' ? Where it exits the glass where the plug is? Maybe post a pic.

You may want to check the piece that bolts to the cowl, that the antenna plugs into. Make sure the connection is clean, and is not damaged in any way.


Reviving old thread... having this issue now. Where is the plug exactly?

It's in the cowl, remove the plastic grate for the wiper trans, you will see it.


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Forgot about this thread….started a new one in this section. Anyway, replaced the windshield, plugged in…terrible reception. Replaced that thing that goes from cowl to radio…still terrible. Ideas?


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i have found a radio antenna on amazon that you could plug into your radio, and set along the top of the dash to verify if this is your issue.

It's the radio, but you still haven't mentioned your cowl to hood ground strap. It's a U shaped flat piece of sprung metal with teeth on it, should be in the center of the hood.

If that's there, then it's the radio which is the problem.

As I've stated many times, you can't expect 'performance' sound from an OE radio of that vintage.

'Works', and 'works great', are a matter of opinion.

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please humour this;
are you sure it’s the radio or antenna that’s the culprit?

if the sound quality is bad, could it not possibly be the speakers?

I ran for the last couple years of driving my Firebird (before taking it off the road) a 1970 AM/FM radio in my car;
I had good speakers;
I had a radio guy look at it the radio before using it - all he needed to do when hooking it to his bench testing setup was to fine tune it a smidge.

I also had a trunk mounted six(?) disc cd player in the trunk - this played through an FM modulator(?);
radio stations sounded fine, and so did my cd player (it was all playing straight through the radio).

The ground piece is there. Also, the 8 Track player sounds great, so I know it's not the speaker. Radio can't pull in one fm station and I live in an area with a ton of stations. Think I'm gonna try hooking up a cheapie antenna to rule out antenna, but leaning toward it's the radio.