Why do some 67' chevelles I see have anntena on the front fender and some on the rear?
Thanks Slime

I'm not sure but I think it has something to do with what radio your car got(AM, AM-FM etc) plus i think it was an option as well. My antenna on my 65 is on the fender my friends 65 SS has a rearmounted and a guy at a cruise I go to has 2 rear mounted ones on his 67.

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Steve
64SS-327-4spd-sold to Original owner!
65 Malibu 283/PG!!!
www.angelfire.com/ca4/chevelle/ (http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/chevelle/)
Team Chevelle Member #71

I read somewhere once that 68's with AM radios had the antenna on the rear and cars with AM/FM had the antenna on the front fender. My 68 and 69 both had their stock radios (the 68 an AM, the 69 an AM/FM) and followed this rule. I am an electronics engineer and ham radio operator and know of no electrical related reason for this.

Best Wishes,

KeeBird

The above post are correct.

In the 1967 model year, there were 3 kinds of antennas. If you had ordered an AM radio you had choice of standard telescopic front fender antenna or optional rear telescopic antenna.

If you ordered an AM/FM radio YOU HAD to have a fixed-mast (can't be raised or lowered) front fender mount antenna. The antenna was fixed at 31"-- the optimum length for ideal FM reception.

The reason you couldn't get a rear antenna with FM radios was do to reception requirements. The extra length of antenna coax cable would have caused problems. The radios would have required some sort of compensation circuit for this. (Read that too much time and money for Chevy and Delco http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif )

In other words the rear antenna and its extra footage of wiring wouldn't have "matched" the radio and resulted in poor FM.

Joe
auto radio repair tech
Creator of Team Chevelle's radio info pages coming soon.

my 68 antenna is on the front but the only ones i have seen on the back are on beamonts (i hope i spelled that right) i didn't know u could put it on the back with a 68.

Wow, GM must have been using some pretty cheap coax!

Kee

Does this work for 70's also? On my 70, the antennae is in the windshield. I have seen them on the front and the back.

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JamesT
Member # 350
70 Mist Green SS 454

James,

No this isn't the same for '70-72s. All factory radios came standard with the winshield antenna.

If you didn't order any radio in a 70-72 you rec'd a windshield with no hidden antenna inside of it.

IF you decided you wanted a radio after ordering a car without one, the dealer would have installed a front fender mount antenna.

If you saw a '70 with a rear antenna, well someone did some custom work http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

I have 2 65ss cars both with am radios and one has the antenna on the front and the other on the rear,have never been able to find out why.

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Ray{Surrey BC Canada}
65 chevelle 2dr hdt 6cyl, 65 MalibuSS 327, 65 MalibuSS 454, 64 El Camino 350, 65 El Camino 327, 78 El Camino 305, 79 El CaminoSS 305
#241 gold
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Aces #3029
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[This message has been edited by 65ss (edited 12-01-99).]

Coppertop,

What is the durability/quality of 70-72 windshield antennae? My car came with one originally. I don't know if it is still there, still works, or what. A PO drilled the right rear quarter to mount a mast (I'm not happy!) to go with a modern radio that thankfully fit the dashboard.

I've read here previously that someone had installed a mast behind the dash making it totally invisible. Does this work? Is it better than the original windshield antenna?

As always, Coppertop, you are our radio guru and inspiration!

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??michael j Team Chevelle Gold #77
70 Chevelle SS396 4sp, Fathom Blue/White Stripes - Canadian built

My 68 had the stock AM, and it was a front Antenna car.

The rear antenna on the 68 was an option - RPO U73.

Kurt

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The 68 Chevelle info page. [last updated Nov. 30, 98]
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Email: Kbyfield@terracom.net
T.C. Gold #6
A.C.E.S. #1352

For the other questions...

Ray, sound like someone opted to order the rear antenna option for the one '65 you have since this was also an option in the 1965 model year.

Michael,

Usually little goes wrong with the windshield antenna. Plug a car radio into the antenna plug to see if you get any reception. If not:

Typically, problems encountered are:
Smashed windshield (damages the the two very fine wires inside the glass)

Careless glass shop installs the glass and forgets to plug in the little wire that connects the windshield antenna to the plug on the body (you have to remove the lower trim piece to see this)

Someone has snipped off the plug wire running from the window to the car body.

Corroded connections or kinks in the cable.

I haven't heard any complaints about the windshield antenna when used with original radio equipment (either am or am/fm or am/fm stereo radios).

However, they (windshield antennas) are not as effective as the tried and true fender mount antennas. Remember 31" MAST is the optimum length for FM reception on a outside antenna. Fm is "lazy" compared to AM.

Some modern radios won't like the windshield antenna. I once bought a cheapo radio for my '70 and tried it(YIKES, FM drifted all the time) The quality of the radio was the biggest factor, but I know it would have performed better had there been a fender mount antenna. Same crappy radio seemed to work fine in a friend's car with an external factory antenna.

I've even heard of people hiding antennas under their front bumper! But remember, if you hide an antenna your only hiding it from good reception!

Things to remember:

By a respectable quality radio, most radios have circuitry designed to pull in FM reception better (such as Phase lock loop-"PLL" tuners)

Try your original "windshield antenna". Drive around with it and see if you are happy. If not you may have to look into external antennas, or figure something out that doesn't look ugly, but gets the job done http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Joe

That answers my question and learned something that I wasn't even wondering about!! Thanks for all the posts guys.
Slime

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Steve

What Coppertop speaks is gospel. It's funny, but Corvettes with AM/FM radios in the 60's all used rear antennas. I guess the co-ax didn't have nearly as far to go to the rear in a 'vette.

micheal j the windsheild antenna in my 72 works better than the one in my 90 pickup.Now mine you I have an expensive Sony in my car,and the GM radios are not the same quality.And the reason I know this is when I go to my trailer the home station I usualy listen to fads out about 25 miles before the one in the car...FRED