How to Change a Soft Top

For owners of soft-top convertibles, replacement of the soft top can be necessary if the top becomes damaged or worn from use. Most auto shops can replace the top for a fee, but soft tops can be replaced simply at home for only the cost of the new top materials. This task may require two people to perform effectively, depending on the size of the vehicle.

Instructions

Removing the Soft Top

1

Put the top up. Remove the carpet from the rear shelf by unscrewing the screws and disconnecting the clips on the rear deck that hold the carpet in place. Once the carpet has been removed, the nuts that hold the rear of the top in place will be exposed. Remove these nuts with the correct socket and remove the bars the nuts were securing. Remove the rain rail as well.

2

Unlatch the top and open it halfway. Unscrew the screws holding the fabric to the front of the frame. Unscrew the screws on the sides of the frame that hold the rubber molding and weather protection components for the window and remove the rubber molding and protection mounts.

3

Use a 1/4 inch drill bit to remove all the remaining rivets that hold the fabric to the frame. When all the rivets have been removed, pull the fabric cover free of the frame. The car should now only have the frame of the top exposed, with no additional rubber or cloth material remaining.

Installing the New Soft Top

4

Drape the new fabric top over the frame and pull it into place. Using a rivet gun, attach the top to the frame through the same holes used to hold on the old top. This will involve mounting rivets through the cables that run along the sides of the top.

5

Reattach the front of the top to the front bar of the frame using the same holes from the prior cover. Mount the weather protection strips and the rubber molding in place using the same screws and mounts that were taken off the old top (unless new ones have been purchased as well).

6

Attach the rain rail and the rear of the top in place using the hex nuts behind the interior shelf. Reattach the rear shelf carpeting into its place. Reattach the fabric to the bows by pulling the attachment strips through the slots in the bows, pulling tight and crimping with a pair of pliers.