Took me about one hour or so. But, I bet they charge you at least two hours for a brake job that most people can do in in 45 minutes too. Thats just the way things go when you pay others to wrench for you.

Three hours sounds fair to me and is the price to pay if you don't want to DIY. Why not just drop it in yourself and pocket the install money?

If you don't mind me asking, how much is the dealer charging you for the top itself?

 

Dealer working on my or any S2000? Why? So they can Ding it, scratch it, beat on it. Or possible 1/2 ass it.

Don't go to dealer guys, and with write up like this should be a breeze to install.

Never will take my S to a dealer...

 

i bought the top myself from some else here.

the only reason i am considering getting it done at a dealer is because i will be purchasing the car from that dealer.

i'm in a unique situation because i live in canada, my sister lives in seattle and my hard top is in seattle. i will be buying the car about 45mins from seattle so i figure i should just get everything installed there instead of finding a way to transport the hard top up to canada or taking the risk of installing the hard top at my sister's place but running into any problems since i only have 3 days to bring the car from washington back up to canada...

 

Oooo .... Makes sense

 

The process of putting it on is almost foolproof. I encourage you to give it a go before shelling the money. But, in the end, do whats best for you

 

just finished installing the hardware. it took me about 30 mins or so and i was taking my time.

 

The one thing this DIY is missing is the adjustment stage. I installed 2 hard tops in one day and both needed to be adjusted. Here is what you do. Loosen the 5 bolts (per side) that bolt the main latch pins (in the back) to the hard top. Put the top on and latch it down. Make sure it is centered left to right. Now, release the latches and tighten the bolts. When you latch the top down again it should be in the right spot.

We put the windows up while doing this to align the top left to right. The bolts go through oversized holes allowing the top to move slightly forward, back, left, right, up, down. Make sure to do this before you snap the plastic trim onto the top or you will have to remove it if the top needs adjustment like we did, wasting a lot of time.

 

Good advise but.... I would urge the OP to place the top on the car without attempting ANY adjustment first. My top fit perfectly outta the box. You can always go back and do the adjustments if you find the fit less than ideal.

 

great write up. i like the mugen hardtop looks a lil better than the oem one...that is prob the one i will go with

 

It must be fulfilling for you to know that close to 2 years after writing up this DIY install, that someone has gained by your doing so.....and that's me. I just finished the install in under an hour, thanks to your write up. cheers!!