j4ze

Hi Guys,

I have an Audi TT mk1 Roadster and my roof/hood is falling apart. Rear window popped out, tine holes, and mold.

I bought a new one off ebay for a fair price and now that I saved on the hood I hoped to save on the installation as well, by doing it myself :-)

However, after some research i can see that its not just a pice of cake, and will take several hours, but im pretty handy and I've got plenty of time. Unfortunately i wasnt able to find a guide or some tips/tricks to do this replacement, so I was wondering if anyone here at the forum had some advice for me?

Tools shouldnt be a problem, as my dad has a garage with every possible tool one could wish for

I was thinking about buying the Bentley Manual - not only for this repair, but for future use as well. Is this recommendable and does anyone know if hood replacement is part of the manual?

Hope to hear some good advice and maybe personal experience.

/Jack

Lexx

I did it. it takes about 12-15 hours to do, taking your time.

Most shops will charge about 2k in labor.

check out http://public.fotki.com/mcphill/audi...p-replacement/ for step by step.

keep track of the screws and which hole they go into! they are different lengths!

Not terribly hard, but you must be precise and take your time.

j4ze

Hey Lexx,
Thank you for the reply and the link - i bet it will make the change a lot easier :-)
Ive heard something about some stoppers and some riverts that id needed for the change - can you confirm this?
And another question - did you just use the guide you linked to or did you have the Bentley Manual as well?

Thanks again
/Jack

Lexx

I literally had the computer out in the garage with me..frame by frame. There is a link to the bently manual online for free for the procedure as well. The pics in the link above was far more useful. The bentley manual doesnt show the procedure on a car..so it wasnt overly useful

There are only 4 rivets If I recall (included with my top), You will need a 1/4" rivet gun (cheap but you need it). The carpet tape is key and the contact cement as well.

follow his slides.. til they are burned in your mind. The robbins top I got had all the holes there. I didnt need to pierce or burn in the holes like he did

He included a couple pics I took (end of the slideshow) of my car. if you get the bar out of the car, it is a LOT easier. will save about 2 hours (see slide 76)

AGAIN!!! keep track of what screw goes in what hole! They are different lengths! I put blue tape on each hole indicating which screw went where. Once it is all apart.. all the holes look the same.

Once it is done. Id leave it up for a couple weeks to stretch to the size it wants to be.

j4ze

Hi Lexx,

I would just like to thank you so much for the help and guidiance. I just replaced the soft top this weekend, it took 14 hours, but Audi here in Denmark charges almost 4.000USD for a new one + fitting, so it was worth all the hours :-)

So thanks a lot. Its so nice to finally have a new and great looking top

Best Regards
Jack