Aerial access

My aerial (left wing mount) is working loose.  

Is there any way to get access to the underside of the aerial without removing the whole wing?

Cheers,
Mike

Yes - I've done this and it's possible but mucky.

You need to l take out all the screws that hold on the wheel arch trim, and the wing liner - the plastic moulding that fits on the inside of the wing and protects it from stonechips. My wheel arch trims were full of damp muck that was pressed against the paintwork - dig this out with a screwdriver.

NB There are quite a lot of screws (you will need to lie onyour back to access some of them) and the inside trim is wedged in quite firmly - with some foam packing between it and the lip of the wing.

Take your time, use a good screwdriver, a bit of WD40 might not go amiss as well, and check you've got all the screws out before trying to extract the lining.

Once you've got the liner out, it's easy to access the aerial from underneath. Beware though - my aerial was held on with a black and silver (?) tar like substance that stuck to everything - T-cut got it off the car, and later my hands (hands that do dishes etc etc).

Bonne chance

Ali

gee wizz, the SA versions are really low budget, we dont have any hassles of inner wheel arch trims, there arent any 8O

its really easy for us to get to our aerials :lmao:

Thanks for the advice Ali!

It sounds quite complicated but there again I've never removed a wing.  Might it be easier to go for taking the wing off completely?

Cheers,
Mike

No!!! see my post on bodywork and fittings. You will just be giving yourself more grief for something that you don't need to do.

As Ali said… do it that way and its a piece of cake!!

Dan

FOLLOW THE WORD OF THE ALI!  :twisted:

Blimey - have I started a cult?  :wink:

I got at my aerial cos it had at some point in its colourful past been snapped off. The rest of the aerial had been jammed in but was more for show. By hacksawing off the bottom of the aerial housing I was able to extract the bottom section of the aerial, transplant the plastic insert that stops the aerial pulling out of the top, and re-use the rest of the aerial as VW intended.

Frankly it wasn't worth the effort - reception on the radio is still pants  :roll:

At least I know that there's no serious rot lurking behind the plastic panels on that side. On the other side however…….  

sagrant said

gee wizz, the SA versions are really low budget, we dont have any hassles of inner wheel arch trims, there arent any 8O

its really easy for us to get to our aerials :lmao:

Up to '83 model year, no european-spec Mk1 Golfs had front wheel-arch liners either (and the inner wings rust away a lot because of this).

In SA, wet (and salty in winter) roads would be much less of an issue…

VW did make the liners available as an accessory from quite early on though before production fitment. They clearly found some corrosion problems in the testing!

Cheers
Rajan

Done this job and im with Ali!.

My 1984 cab has also the inner plastic covers. Only problem was the screws that hold them in place where a beeeatch to get undone.

Got a nice new rubber duck type arial now. looks sweet!.

Ps. Two things i remember about doing tis job. If your going to replace the ariel, tape some string to the end under the wing and pull out the old RF cable. Now you can tape the new RF cable and pull that through the wing and into the bulk head, saves all that poking around. Also seal up the area around, where the RF cable goes through the bulk head or your going to get a wet carpet.