Yes...there is a technical reason why Ford used a pole vault pole for our radio antennas. And if you're driving in a marginal reception area of the country, listening to a low strength broadcast signal, you might actually come to appreciate it.

See, ours is what's called a quarter wave antenna. According to the electrical engineers, this is practically the ideal length for receiving radio frequency signals. What we're going to do is use some of their smarts to get almost as good reception, with way better looks. How do we do that? Simply by changing our mast into an eighth-wave antenna.

If you did the calculations, you would find that the ideal quarter wave antenna is between about 27.5" and 33.5" long. Why the range? Simply because the FM band has a range of frequencies that are used. At the low end, it is 88 Mhz heading upwards to 107 MHz at the top of the scale.

FM? What about AM? Well, the quarter wave idea doesn't apply to the AM band... at least not practically. You'd need an antenna that's about a third of a mile long! Don't worry about AM, this still works fine there as well. So, to make our existing antenna into an eighth-wave version, we need to cut it in half. The mid-range compromise length would be fifteen and a quarter inches. If you mostly listen to the low end of the band, make it a little longer - say sixteen and one-half inches. If your favorites all live at the high end, try fourteen inches...that's what we used.

Getting Organized

Tools you will need: Gather up a 10mm wrench, hacksaw, vice grips, metal file, tape measure, a cloth and some adhesive. If your antenna is painted, you'll also want some anti-rust paint of the same color. These are the basic tools. Things will go faster if you have a pair of bolt cutters and a bench grinder, though. Getting everything together probably takes more time than actually doing the job.

Now, go and get the antenna from your car, using the 10mm wrench to remove it without marking anything. Bring it back to your nice, clear, well-lit workspace. The next step is to get the little ball off the end of the antenna. If you lose track of it, you'll prefer not looking around a floor that's littered with junk!

There is a small trick to removing the ball. A rather strong adhesive was used to put the two together, so you can pull on it all day long and get absolutely nowhere. The secret is just a little bit of impact. To do this, first wrap some cloth around the antenna loosely. Now, close up the vice grips with the antenna shaft in the open part between the jaws of the tool. The vice grips should be able to move freely along the length of the antenna. You're ready to deliver some impact!

This is the toughest part of the whole procedure. Hold the antenna with one hand, while you use the vice grips to "whack" the ball at the end. The cloth is there just to keep you from marking the surface of the antenna too much. When the ball comes off, its going to go flying somewhere, so keep an eye on it. (Don't get mad at us if you lose it. We told you ahead of time!)

So, with the ball off, it is time to shorten the antenna. Did you decide on a length to use? Measure from the bottom of the base, up the shaft, to the length you want. The next step? Cut it off! This is where bolt cutters make the job easier, but a hacksaw will work fine, too.

Finishing Touches

If you try and put the ball back on right now, you're going to find a problem. It doesn't fit! See, the antenna shaft is tapered - it's bigger at the bottom than at the top. Since we cut the shaft back, it's a little too big to fit into the hole in the ball. To fix that, you'll have to file the end down until the diameter is small enough to fit again. This will take about 15 seconds if you have a bench grinder. If you have to file manually, it will take some patience...but the results are worth it.

Once the ball goes on nicely, we want to make sure it stays there. Use a drop of high strength adhesive to do this. You could use some epoxy adhesive, or a drop of red or green Loctite, which is what we did. Pass on the Elmer's or instant adhesive, though. They won't do the trick...for long.

Finally, check your appearance. No, not in the mirror, silly. If there are scratches on the ball or antenna shaft (likely), paint them over and let everything dry. When it's ready, re-install the antenna and admire your handiwork. Doesn't that look a lot better? It surely doesn't look like it's waiting for someone to hang clothes on it anymore.

Aftermarket Products

There are a number of billet or shorty antennas on the market. Some are very short... like 5 or 6 inches. You might wonder why you can't cut yours that low. Well, of course you can, but radio reception will suffer badly. At that length, proper commercial products have additional components which "base load" the antenna and make it perform as though it was much longer. There's more than just a short piece of metal involved.

If all this seems like too much monkeying around, or you just don't have the tools or patience, go ahead and pick up a commercial product. A well designed and built one will look great and still pull in the all radio signals you want. However, for a half hour's work, this free modification can't be beat. Happy 'Stangin!

Disclaimer

Yep, you got it. If you try this and it goes poorly, don't get mad at us. Don't even think of asking us to pay for your mistakes. We've done this mod ourselves, exactly as described and everything went swimmingly. This article is presented for your information and entertainment purposes only. If you don't have the right tools or don't fully understand the instructions, get somebody more knowledgeable to help you. Absolutely and at all times, be sure that you are doing the work safely!