1966 Ford Fairlane Convertible Top Replacement - Lid Lifter

You can see the staples being used in the pad material. Rick followed along with a tack hammer to seat the staples better for a secure job.

Excess material is trimmed away. Plan on having excess in some areas, but remember-measure twice, cut once.

Once the pads are installed, the top is laid loosely on the car to see if the hold-downs match up with the tacking strips. Reputable top manufacturers can make this a certainty. There was no problem here.

The old window housing is compared to the new one.

The new tack strip is then stapled to the window-housing cover.

The rear portion of the top is gathered in to start the installation of this area.

Rick goes back inside to secure the tack strip.

Looking into the rear window, you see he's progressing across the rear of the car and securing the top at this point.

The time has come to begin stapling. If you haven't measured and placed the top properly, you'll have to take out staples. Be sure you're right when you get to this point. Start with the rear tack strip.

This is the time to replace the outer rib that was first removed.

The excess will be trimmed.

After the cabling has been reattached, the attention goes to the front. Rick sprays a fine mist of glue to provide enough tackiness to hold the top in place. It's not meant to be permanent.

Rick pulls the material around tightly to the front...

...and starts tacking it down.

A hair dryer is used to blow out some of the wrinkles. It will take some time for the top to stretch completely, but the more that can be taken out at this time, the better. You could also just leave it in the sun for a few hours. Whatever you do, pull the top as tight as you can when finished.

A row of windlace was fashioned for the front of the top. It will be tacked along to help the appearance and durability of the top.

The screws are replaced at the front of the top. Since this wasn't the first replacement, a problem developed with the old screws. New ones had to be used in some places.

Caps are applied to the outer rib with a single screw.

The finished product sits in the Florida sun. A little time outside will pull out those wrinkles, but Rick recommends a new convertible top not be opened for a couple of weeks. Doug will comply with that request.