Soft top installation advice

Defender1987 · Dec 16, 2014

I'm converting my 90 to a pp nas cage with mohair soft top.

This soft top has the pusch button attachments.

Now i'm wondering, whats the best way to mount the soft top to get it,
as tight as possible ?

I often see so tops with verry loose soft tops,
this doesn't look nice and gives a lot of rattle i asume.

Any advice ?

arc · Dec 16, 2014

Loose tops are usually due to shrunken canvas no longer fitting. Assuming it is a decent quality mohair from exmoor.... Just follow their fitting / drying advice and you should be fine.

mikeh501 · Dec 16, 2014

you wont have a problem with shrinkage on a mohair roof, its canvas which that happens to.

The sections across the top are usually tight given they are strapped to the body at the front, middle and rear.

The side section on yours will have those special push fasteners which you will need to be very careful in fitting to make it a good fit as the spacing is crucial to make it all nice and flat.

theres a guy on defender2.net called sailngtom who did his this year to the same spec. worth asking him a few questions.

to be fair you must be spending around £2.5k for that setup. worth getting a pro to do it? probably 3-4 days work easy, and thats without painting/making right your tub cappings once the roof is off.

Defender1987 · Dec 16, 2014

Its from allweeltrim i think,
its pp cages supplier of soft tops.

Wel there isn't a lot of instruction manual

Defender1987 · Dec 16, 2014

mikeh501 said:
you wont have a problem with shrinkage on a mohair roof, its canvas which that happens to.

The sections across the top are usually tight given they are strapped to the body at the front, middle and rear.

The side section on yours will have those special push fasteners which you will need to be very careful in fitting to make it a good fit as the spacing is crucial to make it all nice and flat.

theres a guy on defender2.net called sailngtom who did his this year to the same spec. worth asking him a few questions.

to be fair you must be spending around £2.5k for that setup. worth getting a pro to do it? probably 3-4 days work easy, and thats without painting/making right your tub cappings once the roof is off.

Its a full rebuild ,1987 defender but galv chassis, new 300tdi+ auto box,tdci body .Skills isn't a problem but some advice won't hurt

.

So i should drill and tap and mounth evrything ,and afterwards have it painted.

Thx i will have a look at Toms one

mikeh501 · Dec 16, 2014

i did mine in the summer of this year. was a hard top 94 defender 90. I used the HD stick set and mohair from allwheeltrim.

i know only second hand from a couple of people who have done it that the tenax fasteners are a pig to get right. not sure how you position them first. id get the top on, and then work from front to back attaching each tenax fastener in line with how the body and trim sits.

if it already wasnt obvious you start front to back on the mohair roof too.

only other advice is get the mohair nice, warm and pliable. i did mine in the summer.

Defender1987 · Dec 16, 2014

mikeh501 said:
i did mine in the summer of this year. was a hard top 94 defender 90. I used the HD stick set and mohair from allwheeltrim.

i know only second hand from a couple of people who have done it that the tenax fasteners are a pig to get right. not sure how you position them first. id get the top on, and then work from front to back attaching each tenax fastener in line with how the body and trim sits.

if it already wasnt obvious you start front to back on the mohair roof too.

only other advice is get the mohair nice, warm and pliable. i did mine in the summer.

Have you got some pictures of the result ?

I read elswhere soms advice of putting the soft top on the car an driving it whitout de pushbuttons for a month so the mohair could set a bit with the sun and wind influence . Mine has been wrapped a couple of months aswel , so its a bit knackerd aswel !

mikeh501 · Dec 16, 2014

Defender1987 said:
Have you got some pictures of the result ?

I read elswhere soms advice of putting the soft top on the car an driving it whitout de pushbuttons for a month so the mohair could set a bit with the sun and wind influence . Mine has been wrapped a couple of months aswel , so its a bit knackerd aswel !

I dont think its a case of the material stretching, its just easier to get onto the windscreen rail and maul with when its a bit warmer. You will see when you get it that its a really substantial material. You cant just pull at it, there is no give in it.

Heres a pic, but not much to see with the sides up.

Defender1987 · Dec 16, 2014

mikeh501 said:
I dont think its a case of the material stretching, its just easier to get onto the windscreen rail and maul with when its a bit warmer. You will see when you get it that its a really substantial material. You cant just pull at it, there is no give in it.

Heres a pic, but not much to see with the sides up.

Indeed not much to see

, should you advice the half doors on a soft top?
was doubting between half doors en tdci doors, went for the tdci ones,
but arent painted yet and still don't know which are best allround

mikeh501 · Dec 16, 2014

Defender1987 said:
Indeed not much to see , should you advice the half doors on a soft top?
was doubting between half doors en tdci doors, went for the tdci ones,
but arent painted yet and still don't know which are best allround

i just didnt want to pay for new doors

so went for the series lowers and RM tops. No regrets, and doesnt matter either way as they fit into the same aperture on the soft top. The only possible benefit of the series lowers is slightly more leg room and ability to remove the tops for the full soft top experience! only downside is that you cant wind the windows down, they only come fwd/back

Soft top installation advice

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