Cheers Dan, I should have come to the meet!

I like the look of the exposed roll hoops, I wonder if its posible to modify the plastic trim without it looking like a bodge job

Thanks for a great post on fitting a new softtop. I spent all of yesterday fitting my new hood. The post helped out alot. So much better now i can actually see out of the rear window. I paid

Great write-up. This should be turned into a sticky DIY. Took me forever to find this post. This will really be helpful for me as I will be replacing a plastic window top with a glass version.

Thanks!

Replaced my roof and frame a few weekends ago. Not a job I'd relish doing again any time soon but not too bad. Took me around 8 hours.

A few things worth adding to the above are that removing the roll bars makes access to the rear trim so much easier. Each roll hoop is attached with 8 bolts (14mm IIRC) all accessed from the cabin. The seatbelts will mean you can't completely remove the hoops but you can leave them hanging where the rear trim would sit. Removal of these should be one of the first things you do. I didn't do it until I'd removed all the rear shelf trim and it's MUCH easier without them in place. Replace them as one of the last steps too. Don't do what I did and end up refitting and replacing them 4 times!

Also the extra tension straps that come with the ap2 roof need to attach to the second bolt that holds the right and left side convertible top retainer. Do this before you bolt them back in place and then have to remove and refit them again!