How to replace soft top by Kool PT

[Kool PT]

How to replace a Toyota MR2 Roadster soft top by Kool PT.

OK, after managing to find myself a new Toyota soft-top at a fraction of the standard new price I was stuck wondering if I should attempt to fit it myself or put it to a garage/fitter for peace of mind. Toyota said it would take 8 hours to do and quoted me something like £700 inc vat to fit. I managed to get my own hands on a guide of sorts so I thought I might as well give it a go as it was forecast to be a nice weekend. I have not finished the re-assembly yet but I thought I would post pics of the disassembly. From fully fitted to entirely removed took me 2.5 hours on my own - and I am far from a mechanical expert, a year ago I had never even changed a car's oil or fitted a new air filter.

Here is the car as it looked first thing this morning. I had fitted a perspex window which was fastened on with pop-rivets. Less than ideal but kept the wind and rain out save for a bit of moisture from time to time. If anyone else finds themselves in my boat I would recommend it as a quick fix as there isn't much that can be done with the old roof.





1. Pop off the scuff plates on both sides of the car. There are 4 clips which hold them on, push them inwards with a screwdriver or similar object to unlatch them. I used a current testing tool, with a pointed end which turned out to be perfect for this and the other steps that require a similar action.





2. Remove the 'lower rear separator covers' by pulling out the fastenings marked on both sides of the car. I used my fingers for some and a pair of needle nose pliers for the more stubborn ones. You might want to wrap the latter in duck tape or similar if you're protective about the condition of your fastenings. Once the fittings are out, lift the whole thing out of the cabin.



3. Remove 'quarter trim panels'. First step is to undo the bolt which fastens the seatbelt to the floor.



Now pop out the two fastenings at the top of each quarter panel. You just pop the central circle down with a pointy object (I used my trusty circuit tester again) and then you can lift them out. Once complete, pop out the panel and feed the seatbelt through the slot to remove completely.



4. Remove luggage compartment lids. Not much to mention here, undo the 6 bolts which hold them on. The lids are remarkably heavy, I might leave them off once I've finished to save a bit of weight.



5. Remove luggage compartment boxes. First thing's first, undo the 2 screw/bolts on the vertical face of each compartment:



Then unclip this wire and pop it out of the driver's side box using pliers on the fastening underneath.





Then lift out each box starting with the passenger side - the way it fastens prohibits removal of the driver's side compartment first.



6. Disconnect seatbelt from shoulder height fastening point. 1 bolt holds it in place.





7. Pop out the pull leaver front plate, unscrew the two fastenings behind it and remove.



8. Remove wind deflector. Pop out the two plates which conceal the fastening nuts.





Then unscrew it in 4 places and lift out.



9. Remove luggage compartment cover/garnish.

These two bits are held on with a bunch of plastic clips.





10. Remove tarpaulin material from horizontal frame.  4 screwing caps undone and it's off the cross bar.



Then make sure it's unpopped from the fabric at each side too, and remove.



11. Remove horizontal frame/cross bar, 2 bolts at either side of it and it's out.



12. Remove 'room partition board'. This is the acrylic wool covered plastic 'floor'  for the back of the interior. It is fastened with three plastic clips which pop out. Left right & centre.



Notice however that to access this you need to lift up the 'parcel shelf'. This wasn't mentioned in my guide but it pushes on to the clip that you can see in the hole of the board. It also attaches via two lengths of chord to the frame of the soft top here:



These just unclip and fold out to release the chord at either side.

13. Unscrew the soft-top from its fittings.



There are a bunch of nuts (circled in red) which keep the top bolted. Undo all of the ones at the back, now look at the miniature steel frame that runs along the side of the roof.



There are 4 or 5 nuts of varying kinds to undo here, then there is the one which I have pointed an arrow to. It's pretty hard to get to so use an extension for your socket wrench. Little did I know at this point that it is 20 times harder to get back on afterwards!

14. Pull aside the remaining interior tarpaulin material from around the main pillar fixing. I don't have a picture for this, but there also 3 more screws from memory that hold the main pillar onto the body. One is a large brass coloured bolt, the other two are just regular screws.

15. Now take a visual note of any extra tarpaulin material and move it out of place if required. You should pick up some double sided tape to stick it back into position once the new top is on. Start to move the soft top's rubber lining outward from the car body like so:



There is a sort of steel gasket which runs along the back length of the window - remember to put this back on first before screwing the nuts back on when you come to fit the new top.
Once it's been pulled off the bolts that are attached to the body, remove the whole thing with the aid of a helper, lifting upwards from the main pillar.

Et Voila!



Re-installation is the same procedure in reverse.

I have been running with my new roof on for 2 weeks now, no problems so far. It feels great to be able to get the top down again   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:

[darkday]

I am extremely excited to see this writeup. Good work and keep it up.   s:D s:D

[Anonymous]

 s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:  the unworthy thank you. I look foward to seeing the full process.

[wbarrwebster]

More power to your elbow..........this is better than a half decent book.........I await next episode!

and Good Luck!

B

[roger]

Well done. When its finished we can put it into How To's for a permanent record (minus all the  ancilliary posts).

[Anonymous]

Kool PT, this has come at a perfect time! A week ago my car was broken into leaving me with a destroyed soft top. I don't have the money to have it professionally replaced, so this writeup is incredibly valuable to me.

Your writeup so far is great, but a couple of pictures confuse me as to what general area they focus on. Would it be possible to show a wider picture pointing out the area and then the closeup? I think that when you're through with this it will be the best writeup on the subject. I can tell you that a step-by-step instruction like this with such detail will be needed many times over when numerous tops begin to deteriorate significantly.

Thanks again!

-Alan

[Kool PT]

hi alan,

can you advise which bits are confusing and I will try to explain in more detail? one of the good things about writing this in bits is that I can use the feedback to make the guide more complete


rest of you, thanks for the encouraging words. just got back home tonight, possibly wont be able to update this completely for a while yet!

[Thudd]

I found one of these nuts in the footwell at the weekend!

[Kool PT]

deez nuts...

weird, i don't really know how that could have happened. there are 3 others holding it on though, so i wouldn't worry about it   s:D s:D

[Anonymous]

Well done !!! go on!!

I have the manual if you need anything, PM me.

[ex-member]

Nice writeup dude!  s:D s:D

[Kool PT]

updated OP

[Star_69]

Nice one fella!

[Anonymous]

hi alan,

can you advise which bits are confusing and I will try to explain in more detail? one of the good things about writing this in bits is that I can use the feedback to make the guide more complete


rest of you, thanks for the encouraging words. just got back home tonight, possibly wont be able to update this completely for a while yet!

Hmm... can't say for sure. I think everything would be clear if I were actually looking at my car and these pictures at the same time. No complaints here! When I finally dive in and do mine (once I get a replacement top, that is) I'll be able to give better feedback.

At any rate, thanks so much for the writeup!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for a great tutorial.

My MR2 has a large gash in its soft top by the heated glass and so I decided to purchase a new one.  This tutorial will be invaluable as I have just won a soft top on ebay.  It comes without the metal frame but does have the glass and material.  Here is a picture of the soft top I have won on ebay:



Now my question is...can I use my existing metal frame from my existing soft top with my newly purchased soft top?

If so, does your tutorial show how to do this?

Any help or advice will be much appreciated.

[Kool PT]

hi magpie, sorry but this wasn't part of my install as my new top was already attached to a new frame. However, it is definitely possible to disassemble it. I think it may just be attached with straps.

[Thudd]

Mods: Could you add this to the useful links for new members thread?

Ta.

[Thudd]

I found one of these nuts in the footwell at the weekend!

Found where the nut came from, it was off the plastic wiring plastic cover in the footwell by the accelerator.

[T17LUN]

Nice write up! Top man!

T

[Anonymous]

Just what I was looking for.
I am considering re-joining the Roadster ranks again, and wanted to know what the 2 looked like with the soft-top removed as I want to increase the luggage space.
Looking at the picture it does not look particularly good looking behind the seats. However, I appreciate that you wanted to replace the soft-top, so there maybe more items that could be removed if you were permanently removing the soft-top.
So, has anybody ever permanently removed the soft-top and cleared the area? If so would appreciate a picture or two.

[tinky1]

Just a note -  i swapped my 2001 mrs roof for a 2005 uk version and the cross bar had different bolt configuration, luckily for me Rouge had the bar and posted it straight out. Maybe bear this in mind.
Thanks
Andy

[Ilogik]

Just used this guide, very handy, quick one for people considering doing it for a permanent look the metal side sections are attached to the roof frame s you would either need to cut your sections off or get some fabricated. If anyone can suggest me something id appreciate it.

[Bumbl3]

nice write up mate!
we were looking at how to get it off so we could sell it!

[Anonymous]

I've done two using this method, works very well. Just have to be careful not to tear it at the edge near where it meets the Back edge of the door glass

[Enjay]

I too have used this guide.  Most useful, thank you.

My only problem is that there are two of those plastic rivet/press stud things attached to the foldy canvas bib at the bottom of the roof behind the bins (one each side) that I simply can't remember where they push in to.  I should have paid more attention when I took things apart - I took photos and everything but simply missed these bits.  They're on the bit of canvas that folds up and kind of makes a cup/channel to catch rainwater can direct it to the drainage point.  They looks as if they should fit on to the metal cross member somewhere but I've looked and looked and I simply can't see a convenient hole for them.

The car has been out in the rain and I have folded and arranged the canvas in such a way that it seems to be doing its job properly, but I'd rather have everything clipped in to place correctly.  If anyone has a picture/diagram of where all those studs pop in to, I'd be most grateful if you could share it.  s:) s:)

Looking at a PDF manual that I found on line, the studs in question *might* be in this picture but it's so unclear that I'm not really sure.  I'll have to look again when it's not raining, day light and the weekend.