Filling Bodywork

[Slate8]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of changing my aerial to a more modern "Bee Sting" style. To do this I'll need to remove the original aerial and patch the hole up (see attached photoshopped images). Having never done anything relating to bodywork on a car before I was wondering if you think this is something I could tackle myself, or whether to get a pro onto it...

Secondly, can anyone suggest good bodywork filling "how to" websites?

Thanks

[laser_jock@work]

If you want to sell your old electric aerial I might be interested- sheared mine off on a branch recently.....

[da SLUG man]

you'll end up with a ****py looking sprayed patch on your wing unless you wanna get the wing re-sprayed professionally

[Slate8]

If you want to sell your old electric aerial I might be interested- sheared mine off on a branch recently.....

Ah, this is partly what prompted me to change aerials - went green laneing and ripped the stock one off. There are replacements in the shop of this site, but from my point of view, I'd just do it again.

Bee sting would solve this, and I think it complements the angles of the surf...

[da SLUG man]

you'd have to check the height too... else get it ripped off in car parks

[Slate8]

you'd have to check the height too... else get it ripped off in car parks

Good point, but hopefully it'll be ok; the bee sting would be lower than the stock aerial (check the images), and is made of very flexible rubber. The base of the bee sting is solid, but that's only 1" tall.

Shame you think re-spraying only part of the wing would leave and obvious patch. Might have to get it done professionally then, and remove the parking mirror while I'm at it. Time to start saving! t

[da SLUG man]

at atandard height my aerial caught on the heigh barrier at basingstoke multi storey.... turn off radio and i'm fine...
with bee sting you'll catch the ceiling and it will bend... but then what happens when you wanna reverse into your space??

[Slate8]

at atandard height my aerial caught on the heigh barrier at basingstoke multi storey.... turn off radio and i'm fine...
with bee sting you'll catch the ceiling and it will bend... but then what happens when you wanna reverse into your space??

How funny, I was there on the weekend - in Festival place car park. My aerial had already snapped by this stage so I got in no probs (my aerial has never gone down, probably wired up wrong or something).

Anyway, I still think the bee sting will bend no matter witch way it's hit, though obviously I'll need to do some research into this matter

[Medieval Dave]

I replaced mine with a little rubber duck type (the old one got bent up when I put my wing in the bushes down a narrow road). It came from rough-trax, and is designed to be a roof mount. However it was pretty easy to fit on the wing, looks fine, and the reception is much better than the origional ever was, especialy on the DAB radio.

You need to pick up a big muguard washer (10mm hole in middle, at least 30mm accross) before you start, and I would find a nylock for the inside nut, to stop it rattling loose. Mail if anyone wants step by step but is pretty obvious.

THis gets you the less breakable arial and no bodywork to do, and was cheapish. I think it looks fine, but can post a pic if you want.

[Slate8]

I replaced mine with a little rubber duck type (the old one got bent up when I put my wing in the bushes down a narrow road). It came from rough-trax, and is designed to be a roof mount. However it was pretty easy to fit on the wing, looks fine, and the reception is much better than the origional ever was, especialy on the DAB radio.

You need to pick up a big muguard washer (10mm hole in middle, at least 30mm accross) before you start, and I would find a nylock for the inside nut, to stop it rattling loose. Mail if anyone wants step by step but is pretty obvious.

This gets you the less breakable arial and no bodywork to do, and was cheapish. I think it looks fine, but can post a pic if you want.

Sounds like a good plan, but I'm really keen on the Bee Sting look and after doing a bit of reading I think I may just try and block the old aerial hole for now using a rubber bung.

I found a pretty good guide for fitting a bee sting at this site , it's written for Polo's but I reckon it can apply to Surfs too.

Will post pics in a week or two when I've done it...

[Slate8]

Medieval Dave, is there any chance you could post a pic of the aerial you fitted? Would be interested to see how it looks...

Thanks

[Slate8]

I Fitted the bee sting aerial last night. Only took a couple of hours and personally I think it looks top! The reception seems to be the same as it was before. Not better, but lucky no worse either.

Here's some pics: