How plug and play (or not) is replacing a roof with another, complete one?

[Hugo]

Long story short, my headliner is gone, my canvas has holes, the rear window is slashed, and the frame might not even be that perfect.

I can get my hands on a convertible roof in decent shape (read : only one of the dog ears needs replacement).

So how tough is it to remove the old roof, and put the new (to me) one back in?

Better let a shop do it? Tackle this myself? Or am I in for a life of disappointment either way, with minute adjustments never being correct, etc?

[jeewing]

I've actually helped someone do this and, believe it or not, it was fairly straight forward. It's absolutely a two man job because of the sharp edges/paint job situation.

Keep in mind every top is custom fit to the car with shims and whatnot. But the actual tops are all identical. Pay very close attention to what shims are where as you remove yours and keep them in place best as you can so that all you are removing is the actual cage/top. Put the new one on and you will likely only need a few tinks here and there to get it perfect.

Of course this is dependent on the new top not being abused or bent. I think the most trivial part was getting the electric out and free for the swap.

[Hugo]

Thanks very much for your input. Could you tell me more about these shims? Where are they, what do they look like, and what do they do? Did you have to cut wires, and then splice them back up upon removal/installation, or are there connectors here and there?

[jeewing]

There are connectors at the computer just under the speaker in the rear driver side. We just followed the wires down and unplugged and pulled them free. Granted, I imagine the full auto top to have a few more wires. But they all enter the body on the driver side.

The shims are what raises one side slightly more than the other so it aligns properly. They will be located under the bolts that hold the top to the body. iirc there are four per side: two vertical and two horizontal. The shims are thin steel plates specifically sized for each contact point. When you remove your old top you really need to pay attention to what number of shims you removed and from which location. This will greatly reduce the aggravation when you put the new top on. Things should be fairly aligned from the get-go if you put it back exactly as the old one came out.

[Hugo]

Aaahhhh... I will definitely take things apart, see how it looks, and then go to town. There are sooooooooooooooo many little things wrong with my car, if I can at least make it semi-functional and esthetically pleasing again, then I can sell it.