longshot

How difficult is a hardtop to install? My local dealership is telling me it will take 1-2 days to install, and I thought it was more like an hour or two. Isn't it only the rear mounting brackets that are required to put in? If it is easy, I am thinking of bypassing the dealer bull#$@% and installing it myself.

goneverything

it is really easy to install; a bit time consuming (4 hours or so) but the instructions are very straightforward and full of illustrations. go here... http://www.handaaccessories.com/s2000hardtop.html choose your year and you can go from there. You can view instructions (pdf) online. I bought my hardtop from here painted and the shipping and service were top notch. You can install it by yourself, needing another person only for when you actually lift the hardtop on the car.

longshot

Thanks! I have the factory service manual, but it doesn't talk about the actual install procedure. That is exactly wht I need.

I think I will do it myself. I don't have the center punch they mention, but I think a hammer and screwdriver/prybar will work fine.

s2qwik

i've just gotten mine last week from tim at mptuning, and it took about an hour to install!!! it would probably much less time due to the fact that we did this at midnight, slightly in the dark. he drove it to me (georgia to louisiana), and it was simpler than i thought it would be! he told me what panels to take off while he took his off. also, i have a '03, so i didn't need to install the defroster button. it's just a matter of changing out the rear panels and adding the brackets to hold down the hardtop. that's it! i'd say that you would be much better off saving some serious $$$ and install it yourself! good luck!

longshot

OK. I have a MY03 as well. Looking at the instructions, it looks like I don't need to worry about any defrost switches, but DO need to connect the supplied subharness to operate the hard top defrost and some other wire connected to the drivers side rear roof latch. Is that right? Does the softtop defrost still operate while the hardtop is connected?

I have definitely decided to do this myself. If you want it done right....

Johnny--2K

the soft top defrost is disconnected when the hard top defrost harness is pluged in. No need to worry about that!

Congrats on the purchase, the hard top is definitely an attention getter. Changes the look of the whole care imho!!