DIY - Replacing The Antenna Base

[Kenshin X]

Disclaimer: Neither TOCAU or I take any responsibility whatsoever if you damage your car in anyway during this DIY.

Do this at your own risk!

Hey folks, I thought i might do this DIY for those who have broken thier base antenna on the zze corolla. I bought the base

antenna from wreckers ages ago but finally grew some balls to replace the broken one :P

here is the broken antenna base. see how i tried to super glue and mould it on again :P

things you need:

ratchet set with 10mm and 14mm sockets

shifter spanner

a fork

gloves (if you're afriad to get dirty)

1. Take out the rear seats. This is done by unhooking the bottom parts and unbolting the back rest. there are 4 (14mm bolts)

holding each back part of the rear seats. take these out and put them aside.

2. remove the spare wheel and the jack holder and the accessories holder (2 x 10mm nuts)

3. remove the plastic part of the boot where the boot latches on by removing the 2 hook harnesses using the 10mm socket

4. remove the thing that folds down on the reat seat behind it by using the fork to flick out the clips on each side

5. revove the 10mm bolt holding the part where the seat belt rests when not in use and lift the bolster out of the hook

6. remove the 10mm bolt holding boot ling on either side. and unclip (taking care not to break any clips) the trim off.

7. remove the 10mm bolt holding the upper part of the lining.

8. with the clothes hangers in the rear, flick out the plastic to access the 10mm bolt and undo these on both sides.

9. with the fork again, flick out the 3 clips holding the carpet lining near the brake light.

[Kenshin X]

Now the carpet should be hanging with no support up til the side pillars between the front and rear doors

10. now CAREEFULLY lower the carpet to access the nut that is holding the base of the antenna here.

to show you how easy it is to crease the carpet, i just gently pulled down the carpet and got abit impatient and creased the right part of the carpet near the hanger and had to stuff fabric to push out the crease again

11. when the bolt is loose, u need to yank it off as its held on by a claw.

12. disconnect the 2 wires leading to the base of the antenna and push them off the clips.

13. with your fingers push from the bottom up the base and then it should pop out from the top. remove it and the wires together.

14. now this is optional but i found that while my antenna was off i'd detail and clean up around the area so its nice and smooth ready for the new antenna base to go on.

[Kenshin X]

15. put everything back in the reverse order and your finished! oh and while your at it, maybe get a stubby antenna to replace the remote control one

Now you guys are probably thinking why the hell to go through all this trouble pulling out stuff which takes almost 1 hour to do a 5 minute swap? reason is simple. so that you can get some room to replace it without having to crease the damn carpet! its not a pretty site when you crease it because its staring in your face all the time <_<

that is all and hope you dont break the base again! :P enjoy! ;)

[Kenshin X]

reserved for future revision ;)

[d.n]

thanks for the write up duy,

looks better short. =)

[jeffy]

another great write up,!

<_< such a hassle just to change the antenna,

thought huey wouldve made one ;) sharkfinn !

[johnnieboi]

My fav is the special 'Fork' tool

[Sick Puppy]

Bringing up a post from a looking time ago!

Kenshin X, thank you for an awesome tutorial. I wish I had found it before I attempted this today! I now know that my issue was a missing gasket, rather than a loose aerial lol

I do have a question for all who have done this. In part 12, disconnecting the two cables - the white one is easy. But the black one, how do I disconnect it please?

Edited March 9, 2022 by Sick Puppy

[Sick Puppy]

And for bonus points, is there a recommended sharkfin to go for instead? Happy to repeat myself to replace the gasket, but if a sharkfin is better... [shrug]

[Sick Puppy]

Anyone?

 

Looking around online and at the jaycar catalogue, I'm taking a punt I need to grip and pull apart?

Edited March 27, 2022 by Sick Puppy