Glow in the Dark Car Vehicle Antenna Mod: How to Find Your Ride

Have you ever not been able to find your car in the parking lot because it looks like all the other cars? Well what if your car was a little different than the other cars?? Perhaps if your vehicles antenna was not the same as all the other cars, Perhaps White or Glow in the Dark!? This Instructable will show you how to make the antenna on your car glow in the dark. Hope you enjoy, leave your comments below and let me know how yours turns out.

Watch the Video

Step 1: What You Will Need

You will need the following

-Removable antenna from your Vehicle

-120 grit sandpaper

–Adhesion Promoter Dupli-Color

-White automotive sand-able primer Dupli-color

–White Plasti Dip

-Clear Plasti Dip

-Ultra Blue Glow in the dark powder

-Safety mask for spraying paint and a good place to work and let your stuff to dry.

Step 2: Lighlty Sand and Apply Adhesion Promoter to Your Antenna

I started by simply unscrewing and removing the antenna from the vehicle so I could work on it.

First I lightly sanded the antenna so I could prep it for the adhesion promoter. Then washed it with dish soap to remove any loose particles from sanding, and De-greased it. (See Video)

Since I had no idea what kind of plastic I was coating I did not want to leave this to chance. I applied three coats of Dupli-Color adhesion promoter to the antenna to guarantee that whatever paint I applied on the antenna would stick. The directions recommend to wait ten minutes between coats. Read the instruction on the product you are using. Don't forget to wear a mask when you are spray painting.

Step 3: Prime and Plati-Dip Your Antenna

Next I layed down a light coat of white automotive primer to create a white base coat. (See video) I kept it light since the I did not want there to be any chance of it cracking. The main purpose of the primer was for the white base color and to improve the adhesion of the plastiDip

Once the primer had a chance to set but not fully dry (about 30 minutes) I began to lay down the first of the three coats of Plasti Dip. I waited about 20 minutes in between the coats for the material to flash before I applied the next coat. (“Flash” means some of the solvent in the paint has had time to evaporate, you can tell this when the paint changes from glossy to a satin finish)

Step 4: Apply Several Coats of Glow in the Dark Powder

After the third and last white Plasti Dip coat I immediately started to sprinkle on the Ultra Blue Glow in the dark powder (see video). I then sprayed a coat of clear Plasti Dip on top of the powder and repeated the process with another coat of glow powder. I did this three times until I felt there was sufficient glow in the dark material on the antenna.

I then let that dry about an hour and applied two more coats of clear plasti Dip to seal the powder and make the antenna smooth again. I let it dry for 24 hours before I re-attached it back onto my car.

That’s it. It glows at dusk, maybe last for 2-3 hours (your mileage will vary depending on what kind of Glow in the Dark material you use), but is easy to recharge with the headlight of your car, or cell phone flash. Pretty sweet driving around with a "glow in the dark" whip tail on your car. Nobody else has one! At least for now. Good luck to everyone that tries the mod. Have fun.

Eric Strebel, is an Industrial Designer living in Southfield MI. He has a home-based Industrial design studio “Botzen Design”and has been designing consumer products for 25+ years ranging from sunglasses for Bauch & Lomb, Traps eyewear, entry level luxury vehicles for Ford, wireless charging PowerMat for Homedics, to magnetic toys for Guidecraft. He specializes in tabletop and handheld products, ranging from routers to cosmetic products to Bluetooth devices and everything in between, he also teaches Industrial Design at Wayne State University and CCS (College for Creative Studies)

Follow Eric on Twitter @botzendesign and Subscribe to his Youtube channel.

You can check out my previous Instructable here about how to make your own Home made silent shop compressor from a refrigerator motor

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