Replacing a soft top on an NA or NB is a full weekend job the first time, but it is entirely DIY with hand tools. The single biggest decision is whether your replacement top includes a bonded rain rail, because that dictates how much of the old top you strip.
Start by lowering the top and removing the interior trim: the seatbelt-side quarter trim, the plastic sail covers, and the two rear seatbelt-tower caps. This exposes the staples and screws holding the top's rear edge.
- Remove the old top: Unhook the front header latches from the windshield frame, then pull the staples along the rear rail and the retainer strips at the belt line. Note exactly how the material folds under the bows.
- The rain rail is the key part: This is the trough behind the seats that catches water and feeds the door-area drains. A cheap top reuses your old rail; a proper replacement bonds a new rail to the new material. A cracked or displaced rain rail is the number one cause of a wet cockpit.
- Fit dry first: Drape the new top over the frame and align the centerline before any staple or adhesive. Center it front to rear so the header meets the windshield squarely.
- Work rear to front: Secure the rear rail and belt-line retainers first, then the bows, then the front header last.
Tension is everything. Fasten the header while the top is slightly warm and pulled firmly forward so the latches engage under load; a top installed slack will flap, leak, and wrinkle. Leave a new top latched shut in the sun for a day or two to let the material relax into shape.
Inspect and clear the top drains while everything is apart. Blocked drains back water up into the rain rail and rot the floors, which is the most common hidden rust source on these cars.