I've also started to install a new soft top on my Series I. I plan to put a coating of "counter top glue" to the bow top, and attach the top with no. 6 sheet metal screws through the channel. After it sets, I'll slid the gasket into the channel and that should be it.
What I don't know is how much I should stretch the top to avoid wrinkles. I don't know how much the material will relax after it's on for a while. Does anyone out there on the list know? Does anyone think my method is ok? Please let me know before I step off that cliff.
I installed a soft top from SSpec last year, taking time with each step. People told me to put it on as tight as I could; I did that by hand and got out all of the wrinkles, I had a heater in the car for a while before installing it to make sure it was as warm as it would ever be. The result is that it's too tight! After more than a year including a couple of v. hot days; the material hasn't given at all, though I wish it would. The glue is a good idea although in the end I didn't use it. Also I had quite a bit of spare material at the front which needed to be cut off, I left a bit there for the possibility of later adjustment just in case. Lastly the gasket seems to go in more easily if you put one edge into the channel and then poke the other edge using something blunt like a spoon. It sounds unlikely but this was advice from the bloke I bought it from. I spent hours trying to slide it in but it wouldn't keep going. Then the other method had it in, in about 10 minutes