Last night and today we replaced the top on the Beetle. It was in ‘OK’ shape but was showing its age and the back window had begun separating/leaking, requiring roof replacement. Complexity level for this ranks right up there with an engine rebuild or debugging bad assembly code. The biggest challenge is that all the miscellaneous springs, ropes, and bungees involved don’t have the usual ‘this clearly bolts there’ pattern – instead it’s a spider web of cords that have to be routed just right, and their appearance changes greatly depending on how far up/down the roof is. With the help of lots of reference images though it all went back together correctly. Fortunately for modern tops like this there’s enough repeatably between cars that the tops come pre-cut with all the right seams/edges pre-made; there’s no trimming or other ‘upholstery’ type work that would be required on an older car.
