Wrapped roof?

[KatyTxCT5V]

I believe that the headliner has to be removed in order to remove the shark fin.

Thanks @RDATLTE
I met with my detailer/ceramic guy today and he told me they strongly recommend black PPF for the actual top and can use black vinyl for the shark antenna without removing and tuck underneath it. He stated they have done about a dozen 5BW with success. Not sure what everyone is paying, quoted me $650 to $750, depending on how much work he faces to remove the existing ceramic and adding ceramic on top the PPF.

 

[FLYARMY]

You can remove the shark fin by just dropping down the rear brake light housing and pulling down on the headliner. BUT !! It is a real tight squeeze to get your hands in there with a small open end wrench or socket. Best to use a small air ratchet. (I believe #10 socket.) My wrap guy is very good and said that there are to many contours on the shark to wrap it and he recommended that I buy the gloss black cover for it. It does not 100% cover the shark fin . I can see a thin area of white peeking out around the base. We should have just put a strip of black tape around the shark fin base and then you wouldn't notice the small space. (About a quarter inch shows.) With a white car it is noticeable. I will fix it this spring. I paid $950.

 

[KatyTxCT5V]

You can remove the shark fin by just dropping down the rear brake light housing and pulling down on the headliner. BUT !! It is a real tight squeeze to get your hands in there with a small open end wrench or socket. Best to use a small air ratchet. (I believe #10 socket.) My wrap guy is very good and said that there are to many contours on the shark to wrap it and he recommended that I buy the gloss black cover for it. It does not 100% cover the shark fin . I can see a thin area of white peeking out around the base. We should have just put a strip of black tape around the shark fin base and then you wouldn't notice the small space. (About a quarter inch shows.) With a white car it is noticeable. I will fix it this spring. I paid $950.

Thanks @FLYARMY. My detailer talked about adding the black strip around the bottom, tuck in and then add the other piece as needed. I’ll tell him about the the third light as an option.

 

[MYTX]

Hey everyone! I’m actually working on this same effort with my detailer as well. They expressed concern about wrapping the antenna in PPF from a finished-look perspective due to the contours of the antenna.

The cleanest (albeit priciest) solution I’ve found was to order a new antenna from my dealer’s Parts Dept (my dealer won’t install non-dealer ordered parts, so that’s a pain point when I could order that thing from almost anywhere) and have it painted by the Collision group (estimated $200 for painting; TBD) to match the detailer-provided swatch of STEK DYNOblack-gloss PPF I will be using for the roof. The dealer will install the newly painted antenna and I will have an Electric Blue paperweight . I imagine antenna install may be $painful if removing the headliner and attaching the new part becomes labor intensive, but we will see what happens. I also realize this approach may be overkill, but it’s another option not totally discussed previously.

Edit: Painting your current antenna could save costs if you are the committed type and want to skip a redundant part purchase.

Here is the part number for the antenna if needed:

GM Genuine Parts Black High Frequency Antenna
GM Part # 84746762

Current price on GM Parts site is showing $171.32 for me. Also, there’s a promo code showing 15% over $150 spend currently going thru today I believe.

GM Parts Site

FYI, I also bought the black shark fin cover from Savage (still uninstalled in box), however I can’t ease concerns that any cover could interfere with antenna functionality (this is just my non-scientific opinion). It could very well be a non-issue; YMMV. The Savage cover attaches to the actual antenna with a 3M-type strip along the bottom portion of the antenna. I wanted the cleanest no-stress approach to completing this part of the detailing work correctly the first time.

I hope this is helpful. I enjoy seeing the many different methods to achieving a nice customized look for our cars. Drive safe!

 

[FLYARMY]

I don't remember if I bought mine from Savage. I most likely did. There were 4 quarter inch strips of 3 M tape that you peel off and just press it on top of the existing shark fin. The thickness of the tape, although thin, does leave a small gap. I may even just let my pinstripe guy run a black line around the white that is showing. I had also heard (somewhere) that if you used a carbon fiber cover, it interfered with reception. Don't know if that is actually a fact.