medin@ucbvax.ARPA (Milo Medin) (11/07/84)
Folks, I just bought a new '85 Toyota Celica Hatchback and I want to put in a 2M rig. But I would prefer not to ruin its clean lines. I was wondering if anyone out there has done something similar... Milo
louie@umd5.UUCP (11/09/84)
In article <3103@ucbvax.ARPA> medin@ucbvax.ARPA (Milo Medin) writes: > >Folks, I just bought a new '85 Toyota Celica Hatchback and I want >to put in a 2M rig. But I would prefer not to ruin its clean lines. >I was wondering if anyone out there has done something similar... > > > Milo I installed a 2m rig in my 1982 Toyota Celica; I'm not sure how similar the interiors of the cars are, but this may give you a few ideas. First the antenna: I have a Larson NMO antenna mount that I installed in the center of the roof of the Celica. If it's a new car you may not like the idea, but the alternatives that I tried didn't work out for me. I tried to use a through-the-glass antenna on the hatch, but that didn't work worth a damn for me. The Larson mag-mount that I used for a while worked, but I always had to take it off the car whenever I parked it. With the NMO mount on the car, I usually use a quarter wave whip (unobtrusive) normally, and screw on a 5/8 wave for trips and such. It works great for me. To install the antenna on the roof, remove the dome light from the inside of the car to get a look at the space between the headliner and the steel roof. For the NMO, a 3/4" hole is required; the best way to do this is to drill a 3/8" pilot hole, and use a hole punch. Makes for a real clean hole. Remove the trim along the edge of the headliner near the door, and fish the coax cable out and along the door edge and down the column near the windshield. I was able to install my antenna in about an hour. The rig: This is the hard part. I've got an ICOM IC-25A, which is a pretty small radio. I'm sure you've noticed that there are no really good places to install it inside the Celica that will look good. A simple place to install it is on the side of the transmission hump, but that looks asymmetric and beside, you can't slide the seat up all the way anymore. I finally decided to hang it under the dash, just to the left of the steering wheel column. I was able to use two existing screws in the dash assembly, so I didn't have to drill any holes in the dash, just get longer screws. It was necessary to redrill holes in the mounting bracket of the radio. It is difficult to explain exactly how to install it, but is is tucked as far to the right (towards the steering column) as possible. It doesn't interfere with my feet or legs while driving, but you must be a just a little carefull when entering or exiting the car. The ICOM bracket is a quick relase type, so the radio can be removed if you're worried about it walking off. Power comes from the fuse panel just below the radio. Simple. (Well, fairly simple, anyway). Radio installation took about 2 hours, mostly measuring and drilling the bracket for the radio. Louis A. Mamakos WA3YMH Computer Science Center - Systems Programming Univ. of Maryland.