Installing a convertible top.

[Toogoofy317]

Hi all was wanting to pick the collective minds here on GSTwins. I just bought a new convertible top for my 1999 Sunfire 2dr GT Pontiac. A burglar thought it would make my car nicer to put a four foot hole in the top of it!

What are some of the things I'll need to grab and is this a one day task? It just seems to be a daunting task but when you get just as wet in your car as you do on your motorcycle then something has got to go!

Thanks for the advice!

Mary

[yamahonkawazuki]

well besides the obvious, ( the top), hand tools, and the BF. 2 hads will make this ALOT easier, a shop manual would help to be honest. however, it can be doen without it. fairly easily

[adidasguy]

Use duct tape ("the handyman's secret weapon"). You'll never get robbed again. "That car's held together with duct tape. Can't be anything worth stealing in that"

Hey - now you have the opening you've always wanted to install that sun roof!

[spc]

Do like the guy down the street with an Ariel Atom.........don't friggin drive in the rain!

[Toogoofy317]

Okay Yama, Yeah I got a vert manual that shows how its done.

adidas my car is currently held together with duct tape and Goop! BTW if you want something stuck together GOOP is amazing it has held the big hole together for right on two years!( I just know this is going to go downhill fast holding big holes together)

SPC when you live in Florida in the summertime you would never get out of the house! But, Atoms are kewl I raced one in PGR4 LOL!

Mary

[spc]

The guy down the street has become slightly disenchanted with his atom.  It's so low that the nutso soccer moms in mini-vans never see him.  The only people that do see him are the cops.......  Pretty sure he's gonna sell it and buy an E63.

[Big Rich]

Leave the new top in the sun for a couple hours- preferably resting on the frame work of the car. If it's cloudy/ raining/ generally crappy out, lay it on top of the car with the heater on full blast. It will soften up the fabric enough to make it easier to work on.

[Jared]

They can be DIY-----It depends on the car and the top -but most of them are better left to a shop doing them. Yes I've done them before (at the Trim shop I worked at for over 7 years). Some require stapling and gluing (landau top adhesive usually)-replacing tack strip,new cables,new pads ,adjusting-squaring up the bows etc, where as some are nearly bolt on with semi minor tweaking.

Tools you need depends on how the top is attached/how the top is manufactured.

Without seeing it  I'd have to think it would be the simpler type top ( extrusion  in pockets-bolted to the bows kind of thing...)-similar to the Miata's top.

Did you go through Electron for your top?

[yamahonkawazuki]

Leave the new top in the sun for a couple hours- preferably resting on the frame work of the car. If it's cloudy/ raining/ generally crappy out, lay it on top of the car with the heater on full blast. It will soften up the fabric enough to make it easier to work on.

Yes indeed, ( because they will need to stretch/relax. good point. i had forgotten about that

[ohgood]

The guy down the street has become slightly disenchanted with his atom.  It's so low that the nutso soccer moms in mini-vans never see him.  The only people that do see him are the cops.......  Pretty sure he's gonna sell it and buy an E63.

i wonder if a gs looks a billion times faster, or a billion times slower sitting next to an atom ? (pics would be awesome homie !)

[joshr08]

has anyone else noticed how bad mary's luck is.  flick has been knocked over like 10 times, someone thought that someone driving a vert sunfire had something of value on the inside and then to top it off someone dropped that ol panhead in her driveway where will it all stop.

[Toogoofy317]

Yeah, I priced out a shop to replace the top and was quoted as $1000 but that was top included and there is no way I can swing even half of that. Can I use the cables and pads from the old top? And where would be a good place to get the tack strips?

The company I bought it from was ARO tops in glass looks like they are b Got it for based in NY. Got it for $269.

Mary

[yamahonkawazuki]

Yeah, I priced out a shop to replace the top and was quoted as $1000 but that was top included and there is no way I can swing even half of that. Can I use the cables and pads from the old top? And where would be a good place to get the tack strips?

The company I bought it from was ARO tops in glass looks like they are b Got it for based in NY. Got it for $269.

Mary

Im assuming you just got teh top canvas? with window, but without teh other cr*p?, usually you can re-use the top materials, and such, as long as you do not destroy them separating it. when i re did top on my very, i put the top up, but not latched. so i could remove the top canvas. well i had to remove the rigid part of hte top. ( has 2 pieces a soft section, and a hard one as well

[Toogoofy317]

Yeah, we are going to take the old one off by the book to try and salvage as much as we can. Money is tight. We have a rivet gun too so that will help some. It is supposed to be in on the 5th. We are in the dry season now. I've gotta get it on before the spring rains start coming!

Mary

[Jared]

Yeah, I priced out a shop to replace the top and was quoted as $1000 but that was top included and there is no way I can swing even half of that. Can I use the cables and pads from the old top? And where would be a good place to get the tack strips?

The company I bought it from was ARO tops in glass looks like they are b Got it for based in NY. Got it for $269.

Mary

You don't always need new cables and pads-it depends on how they look when you take them out. If the cables aren't broken- reuse them. The pads too... I always assumed  new pads and we would see if it needed cables before we would order the top.

Frankly $1000 isn't a horrible price installed . It's always  a good bit of labor to do them (correctly).  Ask a dealer what it would cost (and most would sub them out) and be seated when they answer....

$269....that with the glass window and everything?- decent price if it's good quality. We dealt with Electron a lot.
Tack Strip....  Late Model Restoration Supply sells it... Also http://www.topsonline.com/index.php?DepartmentID=100&CarID=12100&CarmodelID=1072000

I feel you on the money too... (devils advocate here..) but think of it this way...if you ruin the new top trying to do it yourself ...Then have to  pay someone to do it...how much do you save?

EDIT...More on tools.... Staple puller ( side cutters/dikes work ok) . Good Upholstery stapler -STAINLESS STEEL STAPLES.... Good Top glue...(landau top adhesive). You may need some small torx bits for the front bow trim/cap ,headliner and  possibly the window gaskets...  Tape measure/measuring stick ...white grease pencil...good pair of shears...

If you have access to a steamer (J3 Jiffy steamer  or something like that.)-that can release minor wrinkles one you get it put together...

Good Luck.

[spc]

The guy down the street has become slightly disenchanted with his atom.  It's so low that the nutso soccer moms in mini-vans never see him.  The only people that do see him are the cops.......  Pretty sure he's gonna sell it and buy an E63.

i wonder if a gs looks a billion times faster, or a billion times slower sitting next to an atom ? (pics would be awesome homie !)

Sadly, I have no GS.  I don't even have a bike right now

It's not as fast as it looks, but it is ridiculously fast.  It is a billion times faster than my Rover, but when the island finally starts to flood, he's screwed and I'm gonna be laughing my a55 off all the way to the mainland in my Rover!

[Toogoofy317]

Yeah, I'm guessing worst case scenario if we can't do it maybe take the top to someone. But, we've tackled some pretty major stuff in the past. At least I have a next door neighbor that is only here on vacations etc. So, we can store the car in there garage as we work on it so if it takes a while so be it. The back glass is not glass it's vinyl and OK with me. At this point I am wanting to get this car in decent shape because when Flick is paid off 16 more payments then I'll just get another vehicle. If it comes out great and I can keep it longer better for me!

They said they would be adding instructions with it. I hope so because the Pontiac manual I swear was written by a sailor. Use the aft side of the door WTF can you say out side or right side! And instead of saying remove this panel. Go to section 3.4 and follow those instructions. Give me it to me in simple English and I can handle just about anything! Thanks, for the links.
Guess worse case scenario I have catastrophic damage coverage with $250 deductible who wants to light it on fire! LOL. Now watch with my luck I'll get up in the morning my car will have burnt and because I wrote this insurance would be denied!

Mary

[yamahonkawazuki]

Yeah, I'm guessing worst case scenario if we can't do it maybe take the top to someone. But, we've tackled some pretty major stuff in the past. At least I have a next door neighbor that is only here on vacations etc. So, we can store the car in there garage as we work on it so if it takes a while so be it. The back glass is not glass it's vinyl and OK with me. At this point I am wanting to get this car in decent shape because when Flick is paid off 16 more payments then I'll just get another vehicle. If it comes out great and I can keep it longer better for me!

They said they would be adding instructions with it. I hope so because the Pontiac manual I swear was written by a sailor. Use the aft side of the door WTF can you say out side or right side! And instead of saying remove this panel. Go to section 3.4 and follow those instructions. Give me it to me in simple English and I can handle just about anything! Thanks, for the links.
Guess worse case scenario I have catastrophic damage coverage with $250 deductible who wants to light it on fire! LOL. Now watch with my luck I'll get up in the morning my car will have burnt and because I wrote this insurance would be denied!

Mary

full name isnt mentioned anywhere in these posts soo....., well i know youre just talkin, so meh lol

[The Buddha]

Mary - Jared is the man for tops, he did some amazing and creative work on my savage seat, at first I wanted it done a bit differently, but once he got done with it I was just floored @ how well it worked and looked while looking like it came from the factory that way. That man is a genius.

Now Jared - I got this POS 93 lebaron with a plastic rear window. I managed to get my hands on a new glass rear window. There is a zipper of some kind under the flap on top of the thing ... so how do I replace it, its supposedly DIY ... or is that DIE ... no clue.
Now I also have a beauty of a 69 VeeDub convt with cloth top. It looks gorgeous, especially considering that it was done 20 years ago, and spent all its life outside in Washington state .... snow and rain and ice 24/7/365 - not quite, its eastern WA by Idaho. Its got splitting seams right along the length of it. I wanna just resew it. Is that a feasible idea ? Or is a replacement top - just that top canvas better ?

Cool.
Buddha.

[Jared]

Genius....well ok I'm pretty sharp with some things...Thanks for the compliment.

Ughhh...a Lebaron - we did a ton of those...(all different years but the later years were  a little better ). No you just don't unzip it -You pretty much have to dismantle it all and reinstall it....(new pads-possibly tack strip etc too..).There's a section that bolts up under the rear deck that the window and rear side of the top are stapled to that is bolted to studs inside the car(fun to get to... you do it halfway blind). The top part where it zips is also stapled in on the rear bow if memory serves.

If you're going through that much labor it's worth doing the whole top.

DIY... This is one of those things I would lean towards having a Pro do it...When I learned to do them they didn't just put me in front of the car and say do it...I was paired up with someone who had lots of experience.  It depends on the top and the skills/knowledge/patience/confidence of the DIY'er.

Is the plastic window busted? or just you can't see through it anymore? They have some polishes you can use to clean them up some...

The Dub...replace it. Sewing it puts holes in it...even with a sealer tape in the seam it will leak- plus it's 20 years old-may look ok but......Get a new one.