[Hesster1977]

Hi All -
New Member, found this forum yesterday while researching the Web for what CB Radio and Antenna to get for my 77 SE Bandit. I am a original owner, and I ordered it with the 400 ci, 4sp, with the rare Y81 Hardtop (when looking at cars at the dealership it was raining and the car with the Hurst Tops were leaking).
Anyway, my car is basically a Car show Queen only, and although not a true Bandit w/o the T-Tops and automatic, it certainly still fits the whole Bandit theme. It always draws a crowd at the car shows, and I ran out of room in the garage to display all the Trophy's. Yeah - it has a few mods here and there.....
SO - can any members weigh in on the CB thing and what you have used, as I think that would be a great addition! I have the 8 track under the radio, so I would have to mount it at the passenger side, or pull the 8 track out..

[george kujanski]

I have a Cobra 75 WX ST. the entire radio in in the handset. it has a coiled cable to a small junction box you can hide for power and antenna connection. The only visible thing is the mounting clip and handset. Has weather channels too.

George

[ta6point6]

The original CB was a Pace CB-166 very hard to find and expensive when you do. The other dealer option was the GM CBD-10 CB. These are a little more reasonably priced and come up on ebay from time to time. Nice looking TA, what in the world do all those buttons do on the center console.

[burd]

A friend has a GM one for sale, pm me if your interested.

[Hesster1977]

Great Pics of the M176, thanks. That is a great alternative, and it took me a little scrutiny to realize it is a "Quick Grip". So you would NOT have to drill the roof if you were not concerned if it was functional (don't run the cable). It is a great way to go at $200+, but I already am headed down another path since I already have the Grey Choke and Mag Base. Would love to know what the components in the circled area are and look like. That would tell me how the spring attaches to the choke, and the antenna whip to the spring.

So I did not pursue the suggested IC-20B antenna, since it still requires drilling the roof, and it is a "close clone" but the choke, spring, and whip are not close or exact to the MR276.

Finally, I settled on the following which should look very close to the MR276, but have a magnetic base. I get the remaining parts tomorrow - then I will know.

1. Bought a AS K46 replacement coil off EBay, $15 and change.
2. Bought Retevis Magnetic Antenna Mount Base, Mobile Radio Antenna Magnet Mount with 5M Coaxial Cable,PL-259/UHF Female Connector,110mm Diameter Magnetic Base for CB Radio Car Bus Mobile Transceiver(1 Pack)". 17$.
3. Bought Heavy Duty Steel Antenna Barrel 4" Spring - WORKMAN KA-52. $23.
4. Bought TRAM NH-4-HC Heavy-Duty Steel 4 feet CB Antenna. $20

So all in, about $75. much less that the MR276, and this set-up is magnetic mount.
The barrel spring looks similar and maybe a little fatter, and hoping the whip/antenna is similar.

At this point, I am just gonna roll with it, and hopefully all this stuff screws together.

[Hesster1977]

Stock wiring did not cut it to run all the stuff on the car - MSD, Dual fuel pumps, Vacuum Pump, Nitrous and Nitrous Purge, Exhaust Dumps, LED's, and so on. So I rewired the whole car, and have a Hi Amp Alternator, Battery in the Trunk, and use fuses and circuit breakers everywhere.
Thanks for the CB Tips, yeah the Pace and GM units are expensive for sure. My research shows that the Bandit in the Movie had the Pace and Scanner mounted under the radio, and that "fit" with the Automatic cars. I think very few people that look at the car would know what the exact brand CB should be, so maybe that is not critical for me. I also saw on this site the exact hat Burt used, and would like to get that if anyone can furnish the info.

[Hesster1977]

77C - that is a great suggestion! I see it on E-Bay for $20 +$13 to ship, prob non functional, but don't really care since a prop is fine. There also is a Pace166 at $625, but geez, worth 19x the 8025 model which looks "just like" the 166? That is a whole lot of Beer money...

[Hesster1977]

So I received the Pace 8025 clone CB (looks just like the real deal CB166). A steal at $20.

Went out to the garage, uncovered the Bandit (had to take a moment of reverence), and looked for mounting location and options. The CB is not as big as I thought: 1-3/4" D, 6-3/4" W, 8-1/2" L.
Best spot will be Drivers side, upper RH corner, but we have a hard ventilation duct that flows out and under the steering column. I will see if I can remove the bottom half if necessary to allow the CB to tuck up tighter and not interfere with my right knee.

All this aside - ANYONE mount a CB in this location, how did you do it, and any pics? That would be some great help as a reference.

See attachment

[77 Canamman]

I used a 1976 Pace CB-166 and the correct Antenna Specialties bolted on roof antenna on my replica..Since it is a 4 speed, there is no room for the 10-4U Pace crystal scanner.

The Stetson with correct metal band was sourced from Tim Phillips timtransone on Ebay

[Hesster1977]

Thanks 77 C. Did your car have a 8 track? And, I assume you had to drill the roof for the antenna (how does the MR276 mount)

[77 Canamman]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

Thanks 77 C. Did your car have a 8 track? And, I assume you had to drill the roof for the antenna (how does the MR276 mount)

No 8 track player. Factory AM/FM stereo radio. The roof was drilled to accept the antenna.

[Hesster1977]

"You will still need the chrome base part under the grey coil. The small chrome barrel spring should be an easy find."

The IC-20B chrome base part under the Grey Coil will not be needed to adapt to the Magnetic Mount as the Grey coil will screw directly on the male S0-239 interface of the Magnetic mount. Or so I think.
Therefore, what I really need is to know how the MR276 WHIP attaches to the Barrel Spring, like 3/8-16 male thread, or set screw, or such. And the length?
Tough to tell from the attached pic, and/or your car pics.

[Hesster1977]

I bought the 8025, that will work just fine with a little reconditioning.
So now I need a antenna like the the MR276, but since my CB is a prop, I am going to search for one similar and which is magnetic, so I don't have to drill a hole in the roof.
Burt's Hat is a little more elusive, it seems there are a number of styles he wore out there. Web says "The RCA was the style chosen by Manny Gammage, for Burt Reynolds, as Bandit, in the cult classic "Smokey and the Bandit" and the sequels. This puppy sells for $600 to $900 from Texas Hatters!
Then there is this one on E-Bay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/133400102389
So like the CB clone, I am first gonna surf for something similar before throwing my Pension at it.

[77 Canamman]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

Burt's Hat is a little more elusive, it seems there are a number of styles he wore out there. Web says "The RCA was the style chosen by Manny Gammage, for Burt Reynolds, as Bandit, in the cult classic "Smokey and the Bandit" and the sequels. This puppy sells for $600 to $900 from Texas Hatters!
Then there is this one on E-Bay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/133400102389
So like the CB clone, I am first gonna surf for something similar before throwing my Pension at it.

I paid $500 for the hat 3 years ago. The Stetson I bought is exact in every way to the hat Burt wore in the first movie, including the metal band.

[Hesster1977]

So to close this out, I finally put together a clone CB and Antenna. Had to change a few things along the way.

This is what I wound up with, and a few mods along the way.

1. Bought a AS K46 replacement coil off EBay, $15 and change. Removed the little screw insert from the base of this coil and replaced it with a screw stud so it would plug into the Magnetic base socket. It is the little screw thing in the pic.

2. Bought Retevis Magnetic Antenna Mount Base, Mobile Radio Antenna Magnet Mount with 5M Coaxial Cable,PL-259/UHF Female Connector,110mm Diameter Magnetic Base for CB Radio Car Bus Mobile Transceiver(1 Pack)". 17$. Painted the base silver.

This I returned cause it was WAY overkill.
3. Bought Heavy Duty Steel Antenna Barrel 4" Spring - WORKMAN KA-52. $23.
Replaced with a R14-20BSS Barrel Style Spring 1/4-20 female thread to 1/4-20 stud for antenna, E-Bay, $6. Since this spring has 1/4-20 threads, and most all antenna mounts are 3/8-24, I drilled and tapped the female end so I could screw the Tram antenna into it. The 1/4-20 threaded end screwed right into the AK46 coil.

4. Bought TRAM NH-4-HC Heavy-Duty Steel 4 feet CB Antenna. $20. Painted the base of it silver (comes in black)

So I cleaned up the old Pace 8025 E-Bay special, painted the cover and tried to power it to see if it was functional (seller said unknown). After a bunch of trouble shooting, I figured out this "Korean Special" had the power cord wired backwards so it kept blowing the fuses.

Anyway - plugged it all together, and surprised that it actually is functional, at least I was receiving when set up in my kitchen.. So ~$60 for the Antenna Parts, and $20 for the Radio, and WAY cheaper than the real thing, and had some fun along the way. I have the option to run the cord down the roof and into the car, or just cut it off since does anyone really use CB's anymore? Thanks to all that put some ideas out there to get me going.

In summary, the Antenna looks lie the MR276, and the CB looks like the Pace166. More or less...

[77 TRASHCAN]

Welcome!!!
Glad to hear of another original owner!!!!
I bought mine off the lot when I was a senior in high school....yes, I bought it, made ALL the payments myself!!!

[burd]

Recently someone told me they had a GM one for sale, Leme think who told me that , last one I had went for 350 no antenna. I also have the dealer bulletins on the radio, install, how it shipped in the trunk yada, yada.

[Hesster1977]

Yeah 77T- these are unbelievable cars, and unique to be a original owner. I ordered mine, filled out all the options, and still have every piece of documentation. I downloaded all of the Buford/ Burt movie sound clips and play them on a sound box pro from my cell, at car shows, people love it. Makes for a whole lot of interest at car shows!
Bird - if you have a seller I would buy like right now.

[jerry455]

My 1977 Can Am came with a factory CB radio. It was built into the factory radio. It came with a K40 antenna that gripped onto the leading edge of the trunk lid.

[Hesster1977]

Again 77C - you the man.
Will run your antenna suggestion down and buy the parts, but not familiar on how a non magnetic CB antenna mounts as I have never done it (remove headliner, and some washer/large nut set-up), or what the interface is at the base of the antenna that would allow me to engineer and adapt a magnetic base to this antenna. Not asking anyone to do all the work here for me, just soliciting experience before I buy something and/or drill a hole in my roof. (Maybe a pic as reference if the antenna bases are pretty much common?)
As for the Hat - I am no stranger to the cost of the real deal when it comes to originality, if you want it bad enough, you will pay for it. Will ponder on the hat for awhile. And - The risk of hanging the real hat on the antenna at car shows and walking off to look at other cars or take a leak, then some idiot stealing it may not be a wise investment. I've seen it all, from people's hand prints all over the car, to leaning in the car, to fiddling with parts/dials/controls, to outright sitting in it.