Anybody needing any advice on a convertible top replacement?

I bought my dads 87 Mustang over 20 years ago. When I finally was able to put some time and money into her, one of the most important things to replace was the convertible top.
I bought a vinyl replacement top (I really wanted cloth but at the time they were hard to find) thinking all the while I was going to do it myself.
After seeing several video's of mostly amateur's installations and seeing how they looked after they were done, I decided to pay a pro. HOLY COW, I got quotes of $1,800-$2,200 and they were so booked up it was going to take 2 months to get on the schedule.
So I said to myself, what do I have to loose? The replacement top was relatively cheap, $320 or so and I purchased a headliner which the car never had.
So if anybody is interested, I learned from trial and error how to install this top.
Let me know.
 
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Would be interested to hear how long it took you, what tools/supplies you had to buy, and what advice you have for someone considering doing it themselves. My new cloth top is a few years old now, still in great shape. But keep having issues with the seal at the top edge of the glass; and I don't not think it's the shop's fault for how they installed the top and placed the window piece, despite what they say. So I'd consider doing it myself next time, especially with how expensive the labor is compared to how relatively cheap the replacement tops are.
 
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The new top comes with marks that line up with factory marks that will still be on your car. My top took about ten hours to install, but I worked very slow. Taking my time was very important for an amature. I got a DVD from LMR. The great part was I got my vynle top with glass from Car Tops com. for $250 on a Black Friday deal. Just needed an air stapler that works with a small compressor. The kind you blow up tires with...As to the leaks up top/front I got the new rubber header, but it still leaks a little
 
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It's not really that bad. They just don't know these "old" cars and it probably scares them. I did my first one in one day. Not like a 12 hour day, but a good solid 8 hour day. The next one I did was faster as I already knew the tricks. The good thing is if you have wrinkles, all you need to do is pull the tacking strips, unstaple, pull the material, re-staple and check for wrinkles. Doing it yourself allows you infinite time to adjust to your liking. If a shop does it, and there are wrinkles, it's back and forth, drop the car off, pick it up, hope it's fixed, endless cycle. I prefer to do things myself.

top.jpg


1654927617436.jpeg
 
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It's not really that bad. They just don't know these "old" cars and it probably scares them. I did my first one in one day. Not like a 12 hour day, but a good solid 8 hour day. The next one I did was faster as I already knew the tricks. The good thing is if you have wrinkles, all you need to do is pull the tacking strips, unstaple, pull the material, re-staple and check for wrinkles. Doing it yourself allows you infinite time to adjust to your liking. If a shop does it, and there are wrinkles, it's back and forth, drop the car off, pick it up, hope it's fixed, endless cycle. I prefer to do things myself.

top.jpg


1654927617436.jpeg
That looks awfully nice to me,
 
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When I put a new top on, I made a deal with an Upholsterer and we agreed on 400$ for the whole job. Thing was I disassembled the top myself; bought all the supplies; and finished the job after it was re-installed.

Top: 250$
Supplies: 70$
Upholsterer: 420$

The supplies were staples. contact cement, and Truck Canopy Liner (double-sided) and a socket. Took three days.

I am still really happy with the whole job. It seemed overwhelming at first, but I kinda learned from other seemingly impossible jobs that you just gotta suckitup and take the first big step, then the rest is just momentum. Got that first twelve point off and it was off to the races.

I also was quoted 1100$ to 2100$ from shops.
 
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I bought my dads 87 Mustang over 20 years ago. When I finally was able to put some time and money into her, one of the most important things to replace was the convertible top.
I bought a vinyl replacement top (I really wanted cloth but at the time they were hard to find) thinking all the while I was going to do it myself.
After seeing several video's of mostly amateur's installations and seeing how they looked after they were done, I decided to pay a pro. HOLY COW, I got quotes of $1,800-$2,200 and they were so booked up it was going to take 2 months to get on the schedule.
So I said to myself, what do I have to loose? The replacement top was relatively cheap, $320 or so and I purchased a headliner which the car never had.
So if anybody is interested, I learned from trial and error how to install this top.
Let me know.
WOW! I'm looking on installing mine. Can you sure what issues you ran into and what to do and not to do?
Where did you buy the top and the boot, did you need anything else and how much?

Info will be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time. This is my project.

i have the top down because the entire top is off.

I've replaced everything inside.
 

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