Take the Old Top Off
- Step One:Check the fit of the frame. Put the top
up and roll up the door glass.
The door should open and close easily without the top rear edge
of the door glass rubbing on the
vertical chrome B–pillars, and the gap should be consistent
top
to bottom.
- Step Two: Get inside and remove the top forward
plastic covers and the two
plastic covers at the top of the B-pillar. If your B-pillar gap
is not correct, loosen the two 10mm
bolts under the front covers and adjust the frame so that the gap
is consistent, and the door opens
without rubbing the door glass.
- Step Three: Remove the rear cover above the top of
the seat with six screws.
- Step Four: Loosen only the five screws on the
sheet-metal bracket that retain
the rear edge of the top to the body above the seat.
- Step Five: Loosen the top screw and remove the
bottom screw of the retainer
on the end of the side wire, on both sides.
- Step Six:Drill out the pop rivets at the top of
the B-pillar and the front edge of
the door opening, just behind the point of the wing vent frame.
- Step Seven: Remove the six screws that retain the
top bow seal on the leading
edge of the front bow.
- Step Eight: If your car is a 2–liter, remove
the three plastic covers on the
center bows. Put them aside because you'll need to put them back
on when you're done.
- Step Nine: Pull the top up and off of the front
bow far enough on the edges to
remove the side wires from around the small posts, and then pull
up and remove the top from the
frame and the car.
- Step Ten: Clean all the bows, reglue the inner
cover of the front bow if
needed, and vacuum up all the little bits that have fallen down.
- Step Eleven: Make sure all the hardware of the
top frame is tight and moves
like it's supposed to. Blow clean all the moveable joints with
compressed air, lightly lubricate
and lightly blow the lubricant into the joints. Then clean the
frame of all the grease — you don't
want this on your new top!
Put Your New Top On
- Step Twelve: Lay your blanket out on the hood,
and lay out your new top,
unfolding just as much as needed to install the wires — one
side at a time. Find the string that is
sewn into the sides. Bend a small hook into the end of the side
wire, tie the string onto it, and
pull it through front to back. Repeat for the other side. Remove
the strings.
- Step Thirteen: Push the rear bow fully forward,
move the front bow back so
it stands straight up. Carefully put the front of the top on the
front bow. Try not to let the window
touch anything — no point in scratching it!
- Step Fourteen: Install the side wires on the pins
on the outside edge of the
front bow, then pull the wires tight while you align the top onto
the frame.
- Step Fifteen: Pulling the seam to the edge of the
front bow, locate the screw
holes with your punch. Set it up so the seam is on the down side
of the frame; that way the top
material goes down when the top is closed, instead of standing up
like my hair when it's short!
- Step Sixteen: Install the front seal and
retaining plastic through the top
material to the front bow. Do it all loosely, then tighten it
down once it's on. Many people like to
glue the front seal to the top, and the top to the front bow, but
I don't think it's necessary. You
can also trim the top material if you don't like it showing from
under the plastic front seal
retainer.
- Step Seventeen: Locate the center of the car
between the two top boot
retaining hooks. I use masking tape lightly attached to mark the
center point. Feed the side wires
through the hole in the small tab behind the back edge of the
quarter glass, and fit the back of the
top onto the rear retainer. Center the top across the back —
the top center is the center of the slots
the plastic is pushed into. Finally, make sure the top is fit
fully onto the retainer. Remove the
tape.
- Step Eighteen: Get inside the car. Have your
assistant push down on the top
as far and as hard as possible while you tighten it down, one
screw at a time.
- Step Nineteen: Now comes the first closure, and
it can be difficult as
everything is very tight. Make sure all the bows are centered in
their material, and down it goes!
- Step Twenty: Take a break now and clean up all
those things that you'll no
longer need.This gives the top a little time to stretch.
- Step Twenty–one: On the rear bow are two
pieces
of outside material that
hang down. Loosen, but do not remove, both top catches. Glue and
wrap these pieces of material
around the rear bow. Then, reclose the catches.
- Step Twenty–two:
On the top of the quarter windows are material that also needs to
be glued down, along with the
material that wraps around the three bows. Do it now. Try to do
this with the door windows
down, and quickly. If you take a long time, you'll get a headache
from the fumes of the glue.
- Step Twenty–three: Make sure the top is
properly
seated around the door
openings. Adjust as needed. Pull the top's flap fully forward,
locate the rivet spot on the top from
the inside, test fit the rivet into the top until it fits, and
then install it through the frame and seal,
and into the inner pocket of the flap. With you fingertips, push
the washer into the pocket over
the rivet post, and then "pop" it down. If our front bow seal is
long enough to reach to the front
attachment point, be sure the pop rivet goes through all
thicknesses. If your seal is too short to
reach, don't worry about it.
Cleaning off the old bows.
Regluing interior upholstery onto front bow.
Pulling the side wire through the top.
Fitting the top onto the frame of the 124.
Locating the screw holes with a pocket knife.
Marking the center on the car's sheetmetal.
Centering the new top on the rear retainer.
Locating the pop–rivet hole above the B–pillar.
Popping the rivet in place, other side.
This door gap is a bit wider at the bottom
than at the top of the
B–pillar, but it's acceptable.
The finished project.
- Step Twenty–four: On the B–pillar post,
pull
the top down firmly, locate
your hole, fit the rivet from the outside and pop it into place.
Fit the vertical rubber seal so it
covers the exterior head of the rivet.
- Step Twenty–five: Take the sidewire that is
through the hole of the tab, push
it between the body and the rear retainer bracket, through the
wire retainer and install the lower
screws into the retainer. With long–nosed plyers, grab the
end of the wire. Shove the point of the
plyers into the convenient hole in the body, and roll them over
to tighten the side wire. Then
tighten down both screws.
- Step Twenty–six: Test your fit: If you roll
up
the door glass and it touches
the top as you open and close the door, either the top isn't
centered, you've installed a poor
quality top, your top frame is bent, or the door glass stop
inside the door is improperly adjusted.
- Step Twenty–seven: Install the plastic
covers over the frame adjusting bolts,
and tops of the B–pillar posts.
- Step Twenty–eight: Install the rear cover
above the rear seat. It's often
difficult to locate the holes for the screws, especially with the
smell of the glue.
- Step Twenty–nine: Flip the velcro flaps down
on the lower rear edges of the
quarter windows and go clean up.You're done!
- Step Thirty: Stand back and admire your
handiwork. Is that really your same old Spider sitting there in your driveway?
- Need a little more clarification?
Read this recent letter for some hints.
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