Yamba6

I was told that they believe the installer that did the job left them because he would have thought it was needed to use the cover for the top. I guess instructions saying to remove them don't mean anything and the other 2 that you leave apparently cant do the job which is the way 02+ years have theirs.

Yamba6

Looks like I will be dropping my car off around the 21st to leave for 2 weeks while I'm off to D.C. After talking on the phone they may have already ordered the top. I'm actually shocked at how smoothly this has been going with them.
Thank you all for the help.

djsilverjohnson

Great DIY! I just replaced the top on my 2003 AP1 with a Robbins Stayfast & heated glass window.

The little binding posts from McMaster-Carr really did the trick on the rain rail.

I have some personal observations to add:

1. Stuff towels in the side drains and the holes under the drains so you don't lose screws into the quarter panels!

2. When you have everything apart, take time to vacuum out the drain funnels on each side. Mine had leaves in them.

3. I had a heck of a time with the screws that hold the springs for the cables. I ended up trading them for a couple of Nissan screws I had with a 10mm hex head and a starter tip on them. You can find the same type in the fastener rack at the local auto parts store. I was able to put them in a 1/4" socket to grip, and the "starter nose" helped get them in the hole so I could get them started.

S2K632

I hope i can find somebody on Guam help me replace the top

SkidPad

Just replaced the top on my MY00 AP1 with a Robbins cloth top with the glass conversion option following these DIY instructions.
This is a really good walk-through, thanks to Joe for the original posting.
Some observations:
- this is a tedious job but not incredibly difficult
- biggest challenge for me was the tab at the bottom of the side window support. Took me an hour to get the first one - 5 minutes for the second...
- the picture in the thread of this location looked off to me, as mentioned in the post - look carefully at this spot when removing to replicate on install
- I used the Chicago screws for the rain rail - good tip, worked great!
- as expected, the top was really tight for the first latching. The weather North of 49 is way too cold to get any help from the sun....
- I managed to get the top latched by hooking a ratcheting nylon strap to the forward most joint on the top rails on each side to the rails on my garage door and gently pulling the top into place.
- This worked like a charm - I had the top latched up in 5 minutes....it will stay that way for a while given the snow still in the forecast.... :-)

v10killer

i just started this today and got the top back on the car. Still have most of the interior left to install but when i let the top back right before it gets all the way down it feels like its going to break the glass. The bar is so close. Is this normal? other than it is is basically done. Not that hard of a job really.

vaya_broki

I completed the top replacement on my car a few days ago. It took me a few weeks...only because I would work on it about 30min to an hour at a time. If I would've dedicated time, I am sure I could've done it in about 10 hours. The instructions provided in this thread were on point, thanks! Now that I completed the job, I can say that the difficulty factor is overated - this is not hard....just takes time and attention to detail. And to think that I was being charged $1k for labor to have it installed here in Georgia.


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SkidPad

Nice job, looks great!
Agreed, this is no more than a 2 day project.
I am loving the glass window - reason enough for anyone to convert....

vaya_broki

Thanks for remining me Skidpad...I forgot to reconnect the rear window desfroster cable!
Regards,
vaya

rwarederek

Hey all - I've gotten through a majority of the install for a new vinyl Robbins top with relative ease (would have been impossible without these instructions)!

I'm at a snag though and not sure how to continue. The material covered piece (with plastic backing) just doesn't want to go in - it seems like it's extremely tight and won't sit flush where the screw should go in; the hole on one side gets somewhat close but is at least 1/4" off. I've tried:
- Different orientations of the top up and down
- I've riveted and attached the top to the rails just above where that hellish section is (somewhat helpful)
- Pushing, pulling and some head-banging-against-walls

I've spent probably a good two+ hours on just this section and don't know what the heck to do to get this attached. I'm at the point now where I've abandoned that area and put the rest of the top up thinking that stretching it will help...any ideas??

Derek