gen II soft top installation

rt/10stew

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Hi, first of all I would like to say that I have been lurking around on this site since I purchased my 2001 rt/10 last October and must say that I have enjoyed reading and learning about the various things related to owning a Viper. My car did not come with a soft top, so after a few months of searching I finally got one, and received it today. I got home opened it up and was very happy with the condition it was in. I then spent the next hour fighting with it in the living room getting the darn thing assembled. So here is my first question how do you assemble these things when you are in a parking lot or even worse on the side of the road? is there a trick to this or is it just a pain in the butt?

thanks Stew
 

LiquoRT/10

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I have never taken mine apart because I heard it's not easy to put back together.
 

ViperTony

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Welcome!!!! Let me the first to say....it's a pain in the butt, pure and simple. I've gotten many looks in the parking garage, lot and even on a commuter ferry trying to quickly get the top assembled and on the car. I've got it down cold now but it's still a PITA. Fortunately, I only use it when absolutely necessary i.e. rain. The rest of the time it sits in the trunk.

The first time I used it, I was in a hurry (rain) and decided to use my trunk lid to get it assembled. Bad idea...I spent the better part of a weekend buffing out the swirl marks. Since then...its been in the trunk. I don't drive in rain unless I get caught in it and I've used my hard top a lot more due to track events.

In the end, the soft top is just a PITA but makes you appreciate the RT/10 without the top on a whole lot more.
 

ViperVon

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I think it's a major PITA. I assembled mine once and realized it's the hard top or nothing...........
 
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rt/10stew

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Thanks for the responses guys. I purchased this top to take with me to use in case of rain, so I guess it will spend most of the time in its storage bag in the trunk and I will have to fight with it when I need it. And to answer the question I got it for $610, I got very lucky on Ebay as this was a brand new top.
Thanks Stew
 

ViperGTS

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It is easy to assemble.
I do it on top of the car.
Remove it from the trunk.
Lay it across the top (windscreen frame direction -> to the sports bar)
This way you cannot scratch any paint!
Open ONE side arm and get it alligned and fix the screw at the end, but insert the rods first with the hooks in the grooves of said arm.
Open the other side arm and slide the hooks into the grooves when opening the side arm to 90°.
Fix the screw.
Turn the soft top upside-down (now it is right) and turn it by 90 degree to put it onto the car.
slide in the back fixation first and look for the front bolts to be in the right place also.
Push it down at all 4 corners and make sure that the hooks at the rear catch through the sports bar slits the little rod on each side. Make sure the front handle turns for 90° and catches the bolt of the soft top.
Once the soft top is ON the car like this make sure to engage the plastic piece running along the side into the respective groove (both sides).
With a little exercise it is a 3 minutes job.
 
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