Has anyone replaced a cabriolet hood?

[Hogie]

Hi all, 

Recently bought a phase 1 cabriolet with a pretty sorry looking hood. Just wondering if anyone has had a go at replacing one, had one replaced or fitted a hard top? Wondering how hard it was, rough costs etc.. looking for some advice really! Any help would be great! 

Thanks!

[puggered]

You'll need at least 2 people if you can't lift it from overhead (ie block and tackle). They weight about 40kg.
Hardtop weighs a bit more.

Quite easy to change though, Undo 3 bolts on each side in the rear pivot, pipes/rams and wires off. Lift it out, putting it back is the reverse.

Fitting the hardtop is just as easy, Bolt the fitting spigot to the above 3 bolts per side and drop the roof onto them. Connect the wires from the heated window to the plug under the right side flap. Lock the roof down onto the spigots and the front catches and fit the trim pieces. Minor adjustments maybe needed. The soft top remains packed away in the bin.

Changing a canvas is a little more involved as it requires drilling out rivets and re sticking down sections.

[Hogie]

cheers puggered! sounds like its not too difficult then. I've got my dad on hand to help who is pretty competent with projects like this.. will just need to wait until i'm able to afford a new hood.

[Chris1357]

Having broken around 20 Cabriolets over the last few years, they are extremely easy to do.
You and another pair of hands will be fine, there are 2 bolts each side that need to be fully removed and 1 thats on a 'fork' bracket.
Unclip the rams from the roof they are little metal clips..
And lift, Iirc i removed 1 in under 10 minutes a few years ago.

[Hogie]

Having broken around 20 Cabriolets over the last few years, they are extremely easy to do.
You and another pair of hands will be fine, there are 2 bolts each side that need to be fully removed and 1 thats on a 'fork' bracket.
Unclip the rams from the roof they are little metal clips..
And lift, Iirc i removed 1 in under 10 minutes a few years ago.

Cheers chris. Would you recommend just replacing the  outer mohair  'skin' if everything else is in decent condition or would it be worth taking the opportunity to change the whole unit? The price difference is a few hundred quid.

[puggered]

You can change the mohair in about 3 hours if you take your time, you can change the whole roof in 30 mins tops.
Unless you're buying a new mohair canvas, the cost of a S/H roof complete will be pretty much the same as a S/H canvas is as the person has to disassemble and is then stuck with the frame.
In most cases, new canvas' have sewn in rear windows which is a pain to replace when they go all shoddy.

Unless you have physical damage in the canvas, re colouring/cleaning and fixing the tension elastics does wonder for them. Windows are zip in replaceable.

[Hogie]

Thanks for all the help. After closer inspection the canvas is knackered and the hood is pretty shabby anyway so I think I will have to go for a full roof replacement.. as soon as I've sorted my cash flow problems!