Here is the one for my daughters car - works a treat! She has a Colour Therapy with a white aerial - I don't know if other 500's with a black aerial are the same!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-500-...el:500&hash=item41c03b0b5e:g:IvMAAOSwax5YyocH

Attached are a couple of photos. The "box" you refer to is a spreader that opens up as the bolt is tightened to hold the aerial in place. The bolt head fits a 10mm spanner - I found a ring spanner essential as the space is so tight there isn't the space to use an open ended spanner. The bolt thread had thread lock on ours so it was necessary to spanner the bolt out ALL the way!

The wire lead comes with a plug on the end. I just followed the lead with my fingers until I found the plug/socket and managed to pull them apart. There is a lock on there that needs to be pressed to enable the joint to be broken. The car side of the plug was fixed to the car so it was a struggle but do-able.

It is necessary to bend the lining. I took out the two white clips using a plastic crowbar this gives just enough flexibility to gain access. I had to be very careful not to bend the lining too much and managed to get away with it but it was a squeeze!! I'm quite tall which meant my arms went in fairly parallel to the roof, if I were shorter I suspect my arms would force the lining down further as I pushed in to get to the base of the base!!

To make things a little more interesting there is some structural member that runs across the roof around 6-8" in and you'll have to go under that to get to the bolt. Have a feel in there, try a spanner to see if you can get some purchase on it. If you can, with patience, you'll manage it. I found I got into a routine with the spanner in the fingers of one hand and the fingers on the other hand being my "eyes" and feeling what was going on - there's no denying it was all finger tip stuff!

Good luck!

What a coincidence! i found the white one on eBay (same seller also) and i already questioned for combine shipping (base and antenna).
(i have a white 500 and think that the white colour therapy would also look nice)

Well that your job succeeded gives me hope.....and i know i have to be patience when trying.

The only thing that's holding me back is the possibility that my bad FM reception is not due to the base.... and going trough all the trouble replacing the base would be for nothing.

But when i look at al the other stuff on my car (front suspension cups under the hood are rusty, bolts of the outside mirrors are rusty, hinge of the driver's door is rusty (everything else lookes fine though) than i assume my aerial base is also corroded.....

BTW thanks for your description and photo's. One thing that confuses me is that you said you needed a ring spanner instead of an open ended spanner because the space is so tight. But isn't a open ended spanner easier? i mean you can just push an open ended spanner toward the nut and with a ring spanner you have to push the spanner over the nut before locking the nut in....

I don't know if the plug on the end of the wire is the same for all Fiats?

We had bad FM reception - exactly as you described, a lot of background noise - only a few channels working etc and I was told by an Audio Technician that the radio head would be at fault, especially as we could receive AM signals OK. I've proven that advise to be wrong in my case - when I managed to get the radio out a bit of wire pushed into the aerial plug gave good FM reception!! If you can get your radio out give this a go before taking the aerial base on.

If you have that much rust around your car I wouldn't be surprised if the copper strip connection to the base of the antenna will be as corroded as mine was, see the attached photo. The copper "No.2" swan neck shape is what touches the base of the antenna - can you see the corrosion?

I found a ring spanner worked best because there are lots of splines to catch the bolt head. With an open ended spanner you'll have to keep turning the spanner over to get it to fit over the bolt head. There isn't enough space to get a good sweep on the spanner and I found the ring spanner best. I held one finger on the top of the bolt head which also held the ring spanner in place as I pulled the spanner to turn the bolt then I allowed the spanner to drop off the head but still held in place by my other finger which remained on the bolt head, moved the spanner back for the next pull and slid the ring back onto the head ready for the next pull and turn of the nut. I recon I was getting around half a flat a go so it took a long time to run the bolt right out!
That pesky steel that runs across the roof also gets in the way of an open ended spanner. By all means, try the open ended route but I found the ring spanner easier!!

Good luck!

A 12-point ring spanner needs less movement of the nut before taking another bite at it. An open ended spanner requires a larger degree of turn, even if turning the spanner over.

HVF Fiat500 said:

It is necessary to bend the lining. I took out the two white clips using a plastic crowbar this gives just enough flexibility to gain access. I had to be very careful not to bend the lining too much and managed to get away with it but it was a squeeze!! I'm quite tall which meant my arms went in fairly parallel to the roof, if I were shorter I suspect my arms would force the lining down further as I pushed in to get to the base of the base!!

To make things a little more interesting there is some structural member that runs across the roof around 6-8" in and you'll have to go under that to get to the bolt. Have a feel in there, try a spanner to see if you can get some purchase on it. If you can, with patience, you'll manage it. I found I got into a routine with the spanner in the fingers of one hand and the fingers on the other hand being my "eyes" and feeling what was going on - there's no denying it was all finger tip stuff!

Click to expand...

A job for the proctologist then . Another one is to bleed the clutch hydraulics without removing the battery.

Well done - and thanks for posting your findings.

Yeah thanks for the explanations and pictures. I ordered the aerial and antenna (white) so now it's waiting. In the meanwhile i'll try to get a ring spanner with a rattle. That would make things much easier.