WAY OT - AM radio reception

[Rodgre]

I post this here, because there are quite a few of us electronics geeks out here that may be able to shed some light.

How can I either fix, or find out how to fix the crappy AM radio reception in my van? There is so much interference from the whirring of the engine, or the heater fan, etc. If I want to hear anything at all, I have to stop and turn off all accessories (but the radio, duh) and it still barely comes in.

What do you know that I don't? Are there good AM antennas available? Are there line filters that help?

PM me, if you want to avoid wasting forum space.

Roger

[petemoore]

our 72 Olds 88 had these shielding plates that were in the distributor [till it died and a mechanic removed them to restore spark [the car was about a week old].
 This caused the car to run again and added copious amounts of whirr [the frequency of which determined by the engines RPM] to radio reception.
  I'm sure there are shielded antenna's and antenna boosters/filters, but you might want to look in the distributor to see if there are two cupped half plates over the points and below the rotor.
  Of course if it's electronic ignition there are no points...so I dunno bout that....