keith2.2

Well after picking up the replacement soft top from Nomadic a couple of weeks ago, I sorted out some time to actually do something about fitting it this evening. Armed with some instructions from the US board on how to upgrade the frame to take a glass-screen roof, I set about the car in ernest.

Now, call me a perfectionist, but if you look really hard, you might just spot the niggle that I have with the existing roof:



So, time to whip it off:


There are some pretty tricky bits involved in this - and I was a little over enthusiastic with my interior removal, but it's all good fun and it means I'll have a chance to clean it all properly tomorrow. There were quite a few casualties from the plastic press-fit clip population, though...

A bit of dinner and a cup of coffee later, I was ready to crack on with putting the new one on. The first job was the most swear word inducing 30 mins I've spent on a car since doing the H22 conversion on my civic. Still, it meant I was in a position to check out my handywork:



I think the Ten hrs quoted in the instruction manual is allowing for people who have little or no experience at taking things apart / putting them back together. From start to current stage, it's taken me about 3hrs actual work (faffing and coffee breaks removed).

I'm hoping to conclude the proceedings tomorrow afternoon after a meeting I have in the morning - herein lies the benefit of having a hardtop!

It's going to be a noisy old trip - no rear tray, not much interior and only one seat. Still, it makes for a nice pic-whore opp:




Next installment tomorrow!!

s2k_Nut

Ace !

Itchy Dick

Good work!

Is that your VX in the foreground? Turbo or 2.2?

keith2.2

The VX is one of dads' - it's an NA with a Stage Two upgrade from Thorney Motorsport (Miltek exhaust and manifold, ITG Carbon induction kit, something else and a remap). It's good fun, but personally, I'd have gone for the turbo

GavB

Brilliant. Yeah i'd say you've got your moneys worth out of that roof!

razzele

Good job !

I once tried to fit a roof on a 320. seemed to be a bit hard to shut fully so i forced it. The result was a giant rip in a new roof !


Never again for me !

keith2.2

yeah from what I gather, it helps to add a bit of heat to the equation the first couple of times.

The fact that this replacement is a used one rather than brand new should hopefully help. It's definitely pretty tight, though! will know more tomorrow when it's all bolted back together!

...there are a couple of jobs that I'm reeeaaallly not looking forward to..

Paul_J

Hi Keith, great job!

Out of interest, if I bought a 2nd hand glass roof from ebay or such, how much would you charge to swap it over on my car? My rear screen has looked a bit like yours for about 12 months now and at some point i need to get round to making the change.

keith2.2

Paul - I'll see how this goes but tbh it's not as bad as I was expecting so we might be able to come up with something.

-keith

nomadicS2k

Mate, I am impressed! The tricky bit I thought was the front roof edge and the refitting of the plastic rear trays..