95 convert top replacement DIY

shaggy911

New Member
Jan 10, 2011
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The labor quoted was 600$ for installation. I was wondering if i could install it myself.
Is the top replacement is a diy job? I am fairly handy but dont have many tools or a second person to help.
 
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i had a friend do his miata on his own, and he and i are planning to do my fairlane by ourselves

but i hear it is difficult to get right

the guy who has been working on my fairlane said to leave it open a couple inches between the windshield and the top and pull it tight like that. then when the top closes for real, it will be nice and tight.

but heck, $600 buys 3 more tops, so for the same cost of getting someone to put it in for you, you can buy 3 more tops and try it yourself 4 times. i bet you'd get it right before the 4th try.

on a sort of related note, i'm recovering the seats in my fairlane right now
 
This seems to be quite helpful.

It doesnt look like there is a lot of trial and error items here. the only one i can think of is the depth of the U shaped cuts you have to make and the exact order of tasks, else you may not get a tight fit. But this is all theory after looking at the link above :)
I might just screw it up. But you are correct for the price of labor i should atleast try it out.
The top from all convertible tops.com is 300$ for vinyl and the cloth top is 400-500. I could just give the viny top a try instead of the cloth one.

Is there much difference in looks factor by going with the cloth top instead of a viny top? is the difference worth 200$ :)