DIY - Corolla 93 - 97 Replacement Antenna

This is a DIY on a aftermarket OEM replica stereo antenna . Before purchasing one of these antennas make sure you measure screw to screw on the black face mount . There are two ways you can replace your antenna . I will put both ways but I did a full antenna replacement because my cable was longer then the OEM one which is smaller and connects to a extension adapter . I will show you both ways , You choose which one you want to do .

The reason I was replacing my antenna was because it was bent and wouldn't go down to hide . The top one is the  new one the bottom one is the old bent one .

To replace your antenna by the extension cable some cares have the A/C vent ( Crotch Cooler )  tube under the steering wheel , Removes that and then remove the kick panel .  Reach up underneath by the hood lever and you will feel the extension cable , Pull down and disconnect .

Now if your gonna place the whole cable to the radio then you remove the speed odometer face and remove the stereo then disconnect the antenna cable . But remember in both methods you still have to remove the kick panel where the fuse box is located . You do no have to remove the crotch vent tube for this .

The reason you remove the face plate for the speed odometer is cause the antenna cable runs over the plate and is clipped up above so before pulling the cable remove these clips by cutting the green tape and when you run the new cable remember to put these back on .

Then you unscrew the outside of the antenna then in my case both photos are showing either from the extension or the radio , Some people use stereo wire in this case I had a roll of thin hard wire and tied it around the male end and secure it and then pull the outside of the antenna and let the wore loom just follow the path . If you don't use some kind of wire it will be hard to put the antenna cable back down the hole especially with all the wires by the fuse box .

Make sure when you remove the outside antenna that the plastic guide comes out because the new one comes with a new one . The reason for the hard plastic is cause its a guide when closing the antenna .

 When your putting the antenna back you reverse the procedure pull from the inside of the wire and pull the antenna cable through whether you go to the radio or to the extension , then put everything back .

DIY - Basic Metal Brake Line Bending & Replacement

This is just a basic metal brake line replacement DIY to help you in case your brake line , fuel line or A/C line break by the nut and it needs a full replacement . They do not sell these lines preshape unless through dealership if manufacture specification call for it or else they come straight . Always remember to measure your line and purchase a slight longer because of bending shrinks the size .                     

All you need is a mini bending tube tool but they do sell other ones . Make sure you bring your line with the ends because there are different sizes and there is no real way to search your vehicles in a auto parts store , The lines are sold as individuals .

In this case it was the brake line to the rubber line and the wheel cylinder . Once you remove the brake line cap it off so it stops leaking and that air doesn't settle in and create moister , because brake fluid should not be expose to air because it will contaminate it and ruin the inside of your brake system .

There are many ways you can use this tool , Even the inside circle can be use to bend around tight corners .

You can do two ways of bending your lines you can try to copy the exact line while its out or in my case I decided to free hand it and  make it where it better suited me . Because sometimes if you re modify it you can put it where its not rubbing in anything or out of the way so when you come back to repair something its not in your way . What I did was I copied the first bend coming from the tightest area where the wheel cylinder is .

I screwed in the wheel cylinder side and by eye I made a mental route of how I would like the brake line to follow . I would put the wheel cylinder side on take it off to bend put it back and take it off to re bend . You can bend with the one side connected but if you have time and are not in a rush its better to do it right cause the objective is not to kink the line you have to have even flow by bending .

Make sure before you put the line back on that you blow air through the line to remove any dirt before you finally tighten it down . Once you completed the brake line you must bleed the line until all the air comes out and you must do a full recycle of fluid because the air can be near the proportional valve . Then if you want might as well bleed the whole system .