The antenna on the solstice is way too long and looks like a fishing pole dangling in the air. I prefer a sleeker look. I don’t know why GM stopped putting windshield mounted antennas in their cars. Luckily, there is a company that makes a universal windshield mount antenna that can be used in our cars allowing us to get rid of that hideous whip.

The Metra antenna uses a standard antenna connector but The radio on the Solstice uses the same antenna connector as 2002 and newer Chryslers. Fortunately Metra makes an adaptor cable to solve this problem.

The procedure I used leaves the stock antenna mount in place so that it can be put back in place if you ever decide to. Eventually, I may remove the base completely and have the hole welded and painted. I missed some of the pictures but luckily I was able to find some pictures illustrating the missing steps using Google image.

To start, Remove the two sun visors. They are held in place by a T25 Torx Screw.

Once Both Visors are removed, pull down on the Windshield trim piece. You will need to be delicate and forceful. It pops right off. It is held on by two push snaps. Start on the corners by the A pillar.

Next, remove the Trim piece on the left A pillar. Again, it is held in place by two snaps. If you start at the top of the A pillar and work your way down you will be able to pop it right off.

The next step is optional but I found it useful to completely remove the A Pillar trim. To do this, disconnect the speaker wire.

The Amplified antenna has double sided tape in the center and on the two far tips.

Clean the windshield with an Alcohol swab. Remove the plastic from the double side tape and adhere the center of the antenna to the inside center of the windshield. Make sure it is level and then adhere the two outer far tips.

Loosen one of the 10 MM bolts and wrap the ground wire around the bolt between the convertible latch bracket and the washer. IF you prefer you can drill a hole and use a screw to attach the ground wire but I did not want to make any holes in the car.

Reinstall the upper windshield trim piece. Make sure the antenna and mirror wires are dressed through the notch in the trim piece.

If you’d like, you can use tape to hold the antenna wire against the A Pillar.

To get the antenna wire behind the dash board you will need to lower the glove box. To do this, open the Glove compartment. There is a spring loaded strain relief string on the left. Remove it by pushing the tab down.

Press the sides of the glove box in and it will fold down.

Guide the antenna wire into the dash by pushing it down through the same path as the speaker wires.

Pull the antenna wire into the dash area. You can dress the wire though a bracket in the glove compartment.

Now comes the hard part. We need to remove the boomerang to take the radio out and unplug the old antenna. Start by removing the chrome bezel around the gauges. This may seem harder than it is. Just pull on it gently and work your way around the ring. You will feel how it comes lose.

Now we need to remove the gauge tunnel. Make sure the Steering wheel is down as low as it can go. The gauge tunnel has little notches that hold it in place. Start at one end and squeeze it inwards to disengage the notches while pulling the tunnel towards you. There are four little rubber feet on the tunnel where it rests against the gauges. Make sure you pay attention to these as you are removing the tunnel so that you don’t lose any of them.

Next, remove the shifter trim ring. This is a two step operation. First pop the trim ring up. It will remain attached to the shifter boot. Once it is unseated, you need to remove it from the black plastic ring to which the shift boot is glued. Be careful with this, there are a lot of small tabs on the trim ring and they tend to break easily.

Next, remove the trim piece on the ight on the center console. It will reveal two 10 MM bolts that hold the grab handle in place. Remove these 2 bolts.

Now its time to remove the boomerang. It’s easier to start at the lower left of the gauge cluster, and work around clockwise. Pull the boomerang straight out with your hands. Be careful near sides of the radio. There are two clips on each side and the boomerang is very thin there.

Next, disconnect the cigarette lighter plug. At this point you can swing the boomerang up. It is not necessary to disconnect the rest of the wiring harnesses.

Now, remove the four 7mm Screws holding the radio in place. Pull the radio out and disconnect the antenna and two wiring harnesses. Pull the new antenna wire into the console along the same path as the wiring harasses. The Metra antenna requires switched power. I probed the connectors on the Radio and found that the pink wire has 12 V power as long as the radio is on. As soon as you remove the key, the power goes off after a few seconds or after the door is open. This is the solid Pink wire. Cut the electrical tape on the wiring harness to reveal this pink wire and separate it from the bundle. Strip away some of the insulation without cutting the wire. Wrap the power lead from the new antenna around the exposed copper wire and solder it in place.

Once the power lead is soldered, use electrical tape to wrap the soldered connection and then rewrap the wiring harness in Electrical tape. Attach the Metra antenna adapter cable and dress the cable so it comes out the second opening on the right side. Here is a picture of the antenna adaptor cable.

Plug the two connectors and the antenna into the radio. We’ll want to test everything before we reassemble the car. Turn the ignition on and turn on the radio. Use the band button to select FM and tune into your favorite FM stations. Press it again for AM and verify your AM stations are coming in also. If you get any static, check the power connection and the ground. If everything is working well, bolt the radio in place.

The hard part is over, now we just have to put everything back together. Lower the Boomerang and press all of the clips in the appropriate notches. Be careful not to break any. Install the gauge tunnel and the trim ring. Install the trim ring around the shifter boot and press it into the boomerang. Bolt the handle back in place and reattach the cover.

Install the A pillar trim piece and bolt the Visors back in place. Make sure the Weather stripping is nicely dressed around the windshield and A pillar trim pieces. Use the dull side of a pocket knife and pull it backwards along the seam to pull the weather stripping out where necessary.

Now for the fun part, unscrew the old antenna; you’re done with it. To cover the antenna threads, I used a rubber shelf peg cap.

Better yet, have a body shop remove the antenna and weld the hole close.