Jim,
I've been doing vinyl tops for 25 + years (too long!
)......buy a cheapo car cover $25 kind, cut the roof section off, tape it on the car, so just the roof is exposed,.....purchase 4 cans, you'll only need 2, but gaurrenteed 1 or 2 cans will clog when you need it most, and if they don't, simply return them when your done,.....you want 3M SUPER trim adhesive, before you start, test fit the vinyl top, mark the center of the roof in PENCIL only, front to back, side to side, no need to rough up the paint, just wipe with a mild thinner, fold the vinyl in half, the long way,( do a simulated "rollout" of the vinyl as you would install it, to see if you come up short on your placement, if so, readjust your position of the vinyl lieing on the car) start on any side, best to have an assistant on the oposite side to hold the vinyl up as you press it into shape from behind, as you unroll it towards you, when you spray the adhesive, do so in a very fast manner, you want it to cobweb on the roof skin, do not spray the vinyl backing, cobweb it very lightly,DO NOT SOAK THE AREA but have full coverage,spray the entire half you are working, the 3M spray head has 3 adjustments, experiment with them, after cobwebbing the roof half that your working, press it down from behind as you unroll it,if you can feel coolness or wetness thru the vinyl, stop and wait a few minutes, the glue is too wet and will soak thru the vinyl/ padding( iI usually wait 3-5 mins after spraying) having an assistant hold up the excess mat'l, until you make 50 % coverage, when you complete one half of the car, now you can proceed to the other side, now roll over the other side, pull it back to where the glue line is, should be on center of the roof, spray/ cobweb as you did the other side, repeat application, when done now your ready to trim off the excess and apply the nessacary trim, glass, etc.......the reason for the car cover is easy clean up afterwards, plus papering the car is tedious, plus flying glue gets under paper and can be a PITA to clean,,,,,,if you need to remove glue, 3M general purpose adhesive remover is very good!.....just do a test area first before actual use
