daniel boeve Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 My soft top is not that good anymore and needs replacement .I wonder if i can do that myself or is it to complicated .What kind of brand would you recommend to me .I need a canvas top no vinyl top .i do all the work on my cars myself but a top is something i never did .Thanks for your attention . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Better than 60 years ago my father and I removed the new canvas convertible top from a 1949(-52?) Chevy convertible in an Avanel, NJ junkyard. Then we borrowed an instruction manual from the local Linden library, made a set of pads, installed the tack strip, and installed the top ourselves on my 1949 Pontiac Chieftain Eight Series 27 Deluxe Convertible Coupe. It didn't have even the slightest wrinkle, and after adding brake fluid to the reservoir, the entire system performed flawlessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyler Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 companies that sell tops have videos available to show installation info. it is not all that difficult for the guy who is good at do it yourself projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buick35 Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 I did mine about 5 years ago on a 86 Mercedes sl that I had,it came with instructions and wasn't too bad.It took about a day and a half taking my time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 I did my own install on my mb 190sl, but that is about half the size. It turned out perfect, took a little finess, but if youre handy and pay attention to detail I would think it can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 If you want a top to use if it rains, then you can generally do it yourself - if you want to win at shows you can do it too, but ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Patience is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTR Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 17 hours ago, daniel boeve said: I wonder if i can do that myself or is it to complicated Only YOU can answer that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTR Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 20 hours ago, daniel boeve said: My soft top is not that good anymore and needs replacement .I wonder if i can do that myself or is it to complicated .What kind of brand would you recommend to me .I need a canvas top no vinyl top .i do all the work on my cars myself but a top is something i never did .Thanks for your attention . Also, a lot depends on YOUR expectations. As I’ve mentioned somewhere here before, few years ago I needed to replace a top on a clients car that was complete restored and looked much better/nicer than it did from factory, but whoever had restored it had installed a wrong pattern top on it. Well, long story shorter, my go-to trimmer had past away, so I spent several weeks contacting colleagues and friends for recommendations. Found 2, one about 3 hrs (one-way) away, another about an hour. By the time I got started with the first and finished with the second choice, I had wasted nearly a year and way over $10K between these two highly recommended/regarded professional upholstery shops* and ended up doing the job myself. *I even saw couple of multi-million dollar vintage Ferraris in one of them, while my job, which they utterly failed on, was just another $200K-$300K late-‘50s American made production car. OTOH, I have been known to be a bit OCD and very picky mother******. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Post war GM tops are tricky, that’s all I‘ll say. Well, maybe a little more. Any kit top, be prepared to spend some time making it fit well. The only kit top I’ve ever installed that fit correctly (the first time) was a mid-60’s Mercedes cabriolet. The holes at the bottom of rear window curtain were round, so only one place to attach. Most GM cars with the rear bolt-in rails or rails, holes are slots, so you guess, install, take out, guess again, and so forth. Patience isn’t a virtue, it’s a necessity.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTR Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, trimacar said: Post war GM tops are tricky, that’s all I‘ll say. Well, maybe a little more. Any kit top, be prepared to spend some time making it fit well. Most GM cars with the rear bolt-in rails or rails, holes are slots, so you guess, install, take out, guess again, and so forth. Late-'50s/early-'60s MoPars aren't too easy either and it doesn't help when all top kit suppliers have some serious inaccuracies on their patterns and application data, including at least one more than Chrysler Corporation originally provided for '57-'59 cars alone. 🤔 2 hours ago, trimacar said: Patience isn’t a virtue, it’s a necessity.... + 1 ! Edited August 24, 2020 by TTR (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Figure out the cost to hire it done. You could probably buy by two tops and have money left over. Just happily work away at it saying "I do it nice 'cause I do it twice". Those professional shops don't tell you that. It's hidden in the hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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