I have recently purchased a 1996 Convertible, and the top has some issues. I'm going to have to replace it so I am posting on here to see if anyone has any tips, trick, or things to watch for when i get started on this?
I bought a top from TopsOnLine a couple of years ago for another car. It was a 2-day job, with plenty of breaks and goofing off, not a lot of hard labor, but a lot of fiddling. I'm going to do another one in a month or so. If you're not into spending time tweaking and fine-tuning, it might not be for you. The Mustang top is stapled in two pieces to the last bow, which makes it relatively easy as such things go, but there's a reason why pros charge big money; it takes a lot of time. A complete top kit from TopsOnLine is about $400, as I recall, including heated rear glass, new tack strips, padding, etc. Mostly, you need patience and a really good stapler. I use an air stapler and SS staples because there're about a million staples, all with rust potential.
I've owned two GT convertibles. Did the top on my 96' and had no trouble paying a pro to do it on my 2000. It's not hard, just takes fiddling like said above. Think I paid 800 for them to replace it on my 2000 and came with a 5 year warranty. If you do decide to do it yourself, buy the top and the rear glass (2 piece top on these cars) and use stainless staples. A air stapler is a big help.