[Spridgets] Convertible Top Install

[Timothy H. Collins]

A
>===============
>My question is this.  If you install a top when it is nice and warm 
>and sunny, so you can stretch it, what happens when it's not so nice 
>and warm and sunny, which is when you will want to use it? Haven't 
>you made it more difficult to get it to fit? I know it will look a 
>little loose when it IS nice and warm and sunny, but heck, it 
>shouldn't be UP then.
>
>Just sayin'
>Peter C.

Good point. I bought the top from VB (9-325-BB) in 1991. It has 
remained in the box 'til just recently so it needed a bit of warmth 
to undo the folds and creases accumulated over the years. I am part 
way through the install and it seems to be going well. Just waiting 
for contact cement to set up right now. In reality the top probably 
won't get used much as I only plan to use the car 6 months out of the 
year. The other 6 months there's too much salt on the road around 
here in Michigan. Dow Chemical was founded here because of the brine 
wells. At one point in time, they just filled tankers with brine and 
poured it on the road. That ensured that the salt got into every nook 
and cranny in your car. (Has it stopped snowing in Madison, WI yet?)

I am finding that putting the convertible top on the Sprite is 
something like the lady who is wearing last year's tank top and 
shorts even though she was 30 pounds lighter last summer. If you tug 
and pull enough you can make it fit and get decent coverage.

btw. The convertible top for the Sprite was $149 in 1991 and sells 
for $314 the last that I looked. Moral: buy the parts you will need 
in 17 years today.

Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/