Fix for poor reception

[SpaceShot]

To do away with the RC car look of my 2008 LB, I changed the factory antenna for shorty and then eventually went with the shark fin. The color match on the fin and the look is very good. But the foil antenna inside of it only covers half the surface and like the shorty gets about half the reception range of the factory antenna. (Outside of urban centers.)
After living with poor reception for a year or two, I got a Tune Trapper hidden dipole antenna to mount in the dash. With the new antenna and a 10db Ratdio Shack signal booster from eBay, the reception is slightly better than stock.

The pictures show the dash open with the new antenna mounted between the center vents and the gauge cluster. I found the center mount version to be a good solution for fastening the antenna in the dash.

2008 LB basic steps:
1. Remove the dark gray trim from the sides of the heater control portion of the dash. Simple snap fittings, start from the bottom edges and carefully pull towards you.
2. Carefully lift the panel in front of the gage cluster to 45 or 60 degrees to release the radio trim bezel. Simple snap fittings again, start with edge closest to you.
3. Remove radio trim bezel by pulling straight toward the rear seat.
4. Remove the 4 cross head screws that hold the radio bracket to the dash.
5. Pull radio out to expose antenna cable connection.
6. Mount new hidden antenna as shown in the space between the vents and gage cluster. (It comes with mounting block and double stick tape.)
7. Close everything up in reverse order.

I overspent for the project, $40 hidden antenna + $18 booster + $70 shark fin. But the car looks very good and reception is now better than stock.