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Installing New Top

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The garage was warmer than I thought since we never opened the garage door all day and snaps went in tonight. After the first three, I finally got the hang of it and the rest went in without incident. I definitely did not taken in as much material as I should have at the header and I already can tell the roof will be "flappy". I will likely go the foam roll route to take up some of the slack (or possibly use the ill-fitting weather strip for the header) rather than try to redo the header. I'm definitely not going to win any prizes for the install, but it definitely was a learning experience.

Like I mentioned earlier, the "default" setting for this car is top down and I would only use the top in the event that I'm leaving the car parked somewhere, or if I need to throw the top up in the event of surprise rainfall. In that regards, the top will definitely do what is required of it.
 
Have you already raised and adjusted the angle of the top bows?
 
Trevor Jessie said:
Have you already raised and adjusted the angle of the top bows?
Click to expand...

I haven't. How do you do that? And can I do that now that the top is on?

Also, on the two snaps that attach on the inside behind the doors, do you run them over the frame or under the frame before they snap? There's enough material that it can be done either way. I can take pictures if you don't know what I'm talking about.
 
I never attached as the primary cause of ripping your top will be failure to remember to unsnap. And since 95% was top down...
 
I never attach the top to those snaps. I only use those snaps with the boot cover.

The top frame is held to the car with three bolts on each side. When loosened they can give a little adjustment to the angle and height. Just unclip the top and play around with them and see if you can take up the slack.
 
Jim_Gruber said:
I never attached as the primary cause of ripping your top will be failure to remember to unsnap. And since 95% was top down...
Click to expand...

That actually happened to me early on with the top that came with the car (and I knew I had to replace when I bought the car). The top was already well on its way to disintegration, so it really didn't do any more damage than what was already there.
 
Trevor Jessie said:
I never attach the top to those snaps. I only use those snaps with the boot cover.

The top frame is held to the car with three bolts on each side. When loosened they can give a little adjustment to the angle and height. Just unclip the top and play around with them and see if you can take up the slack.
Click to expand...

Got it. Thanks on both counts. Looking at the top this morning, it doesn't look as bad as I think I made it out to be.
 
Moving the bows helped a little bit, but I'm still going to have to put the foam rollers on the foremost bow. Curiously, moving the bows solved another problem that I just assumed was part of the charm of owning an LBC. Previously, when I'd put the top up, the header would "overshoot" the windshield frame and I'd have to pull it back to latch the header up. By moving the bows, the header now mates up smoothly with the windshield frame.
 
I found that 1/2 inch copper pipe insulation makes a GREAT foam roll to put on the bows. It fits perfectly. Even after the foam, I still have some "floppiness", but I'll deal with that until I have to replace the top again. It was warm enough today to take the Sprite out top down. The top looks fantastic when its in the down position (lol). It was nice to have a "down" top stay that way, which was something I wasn't getting with the old top. I'll put up some pics soon.
 
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