A General Lee question, CB antenna install without damaging paint?

[UH60L]

Not sure if this is the right part of the forum to ask, but is there a good way/method/style of putting a cb antenna on my trunk lid without ruining the paint?  At first I was just gonna put one on for looks, but now I kind of want a functional cb in the car...  I thought about a magnetic mount and putting felt or foam under it, but I have heard a few people say they did that and still scratched up their paint.

[Mike DC]

You're kinda stuck between having the magnet pulling hard enough to clamp on, vs cushioned enough not to scratch the paint.  A layer of velvet/felt fabric on the underside of the antenna magnet mount is as good as anything. 

If you are on the fence and not going for a General-Lee-accurate look then you might wanna just leave the antenna off.  In this century drivers don't use CBs as much as they did decades ago.  Cell phones have bitten off a lot of that business.     


Either way, don't take chances with the magnet being too thickly cushioned and letting the antenna come loose at the wrong time.  It will end up hanging by the cable, swinging around, scratching up a big area of roof, trunklid, back glass, etc.  If that happens you'll be wishing you only had a few scratches on the trunklid under the magnet instead.   

   
Another option is to get a second trunklid (used, repro, whatever) and mount the antenna securely to that one.  Drill holes, weld on a bracket, etc.  You have the good trunklid stored away at home without marks on it so there's no harm, right? 

In that case you have the option to drill a hole in the lid to pass the CB cable directly through under the antenna mount.  That way the cable doesn't have to squeeze through the weatherstripping to get into the trunk compartment.  Better for keeping water out of the trunk.       

[marshallfry01]

Which era General are you making? The earlier seasons had the teardrop radio shack version that clips on. But if you're making a later season replica, you have no choice but to drill a hole in the trunk lid if you want it functional. I can't recall off of the top of my head what its called but the coax goes through the trunk. It's mounted a few inches away from the front of the trunk lid so the coax has to go out through the bottom.