Roof Aerial

This procedure is not for the feint hearted, if you are at all scared of drilling holes in your car then don't do it!


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1) Choose a warm day or work indoors, yank the boot seal off (do not distort it) and drop the head lining, using a hairdryer will help A LOT! Do little bits at a time, the headlining WILL rip otherwise.

2) Mark out where you want to put the aerial. Check that it will not catch the boot lid when opened, and that any roof stiffeners are well out of the way. The roof of the polo is 1m exactly from crease to crease, so this makes it kinda easy (that's 50cm!). Then drill the hole very carefully. Use a centre punch to start with and drill a pilot hole, with someone on the underside with a piece of wood. The rood is very easy to buckle here.

3) make the hole the right size (I chose a Hella amplified aerial from www.eurocarparts.co.uk it was 16 quid; its for 16V golfs apparently) To open the hole out work from the inside of the car, so that the roof is not being distorted. Then using a damp kitchen towel try to dab up the bits of swarf. If you try to wipe them, you will scratch the paint work. Dry it all off an then get some paint, touch up will work, and then coat anywhere you have chipped any paint off. You don't want it to rust. Next ensure that you have used a sealant, both sides of the rubber aerial base, if you don't it will leak, and even if it doesn't leak too much, it will make the car smell weird. Then tighten up the nut. Keep tightening until the unit is almost impossible to swivel. Then get outside and view the car from the front. Wiggle the base until the AEIRIAL looks straight. Because if it is straight but doesn't look it, it annoy you forever. I lined mine up with the VW badge on the tail gate and checked that it had a straight cord line right through the car. Check again, and remove and sealer that splodged out with a Sainsburys nectar card. (I knew I'd find a use for it)

4) Check that you have fitted adhesive clips to the underside so that the cable doesn't rattle. And feed the cables down the C-pillar. Use a feeder cable first because I got the plug stuck and it can make you cry. Connect it up to a radio and then fit the aerial feed, you'll be able to tell if it works. Re-fit the headlining, but while your at it, note that I fed an LED brake light wire through too while I was at it, so that it also looks factory fitted. (See pic 1)

5) By now your fingers won't bend any more and your neck will be sore, so take a minute to stand back and admire your work. If it isn't in the right place still, you have a few minutes left for any re-adjustment unless the sealer has set. Stand back and admire your work. Oh yeah, you might want to feed the aerial cable through to the actual radio!