Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: mike alain on Wednesday,March 10, 2021, 04:41:54 AM
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I see a lot of pics with no antenna, so where do u guys hide it?? I would assume because the car is fiberglass it can be anywhere? Thanks Mike.
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I started out with a radio and a hidden antenna. Worked great! As long as I didn't start the engine. Running, AM is unusable and FM, ok-ish. Dumped the radio and now use an iPhone through noise-cancelling headsets (S1s are a LOT louder than the S2s and up with their separate chassis).
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With all stock 70's components, it would be very difficult to have clean radio reception. The main culprits are running the engine points current through the tach, the mechanical voltage regulators and total lack of shielding in the engine bay.
I did add the "factory" suggested screen in the rear bonnet with only minimal results. It took the liberal addition of filter capacitors, ferrite beads and additional grounds to get a working radio when my 70's S2 was a daily driver in the 80's. I discovered that improving the grounds also improved my ignition performance and tach stability.
In my modern build (not concours) I am going to a pointless ignition, modern alternator with internal regulation, solid state instrument 10V regulator, grounded copper screen in the firewall, engine bonnet plus a few more tweaks to get the radio noise under control.
A sweet sounding engine is very nice but so is some sweet sounding music.
Ron
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I believe that radios in Canadian cars were added as part of the import process. The antenna on my car is on the right front fender near the base of the windshield. I went to an electric antenna when the car was last repainted, in 1989, and had to move the antenna more towards the outside.