[lal Naja]

Steps to fit my Butler hard top.
If the car is painted you will probably want to install a couple of layers of tough strong paint protection. My car is unpainted.

Fit the back glass. I did this about five or six months ago. (DO NOT PRESS TOO HARD ON THE LAMINATED GLASS. Each layer of glass is less than 1/8" thick. I pressed and it cracked real easy.) This will give the fiberglass a chance to conform to the glass window as there is a slight variance.

Make a wood and foam cradle for the fiberglass top. It will make your life easy when you work on it. I also used it to put about 20 lbs of extra weight on the top while the top was resting on the car.

Make a sanding file with 80 grit belt sander paper. I used a 1" wide x 12 " flexible steel engineers rule & #77 spray glue to attach a 1" x 12 " strip of sand paper to it. Use coarser paper if you think it will help.

Apply 1/16" thick X 1/2" wide hard rubber tape along the top front edge of the windshield frame. This strip of tape will give you enough space later when you go to install a strip of soft compressible 1/8" closed-cell foam tape to create a first barrier weather strip between the top & windshield. I'm looking for an extruded foam rubber profile that may do this. If I find something I'll place it in the photos and provide a link to it.

Place the top on the car and align the rear as best you can for fit, you will have gaps between the body and top. Fit the windshield and front of the top as best you can.
Shape the aluminum straps to fit the windshield frame top and position them. A little bending and twisting will do the trick. I did not have to adjust the angle on my windshield. Then use a large alligator/spring clamp to hold the front edge of the top to the left and right edges of the windshield frame. This will be your rough fit.

Start sanding the top by sliding the steel rule sander you made between the top and body. Carefully remove high spots a little at a time to bring the top down to about 1/16" from the body. This 1/16" gap that will be occupied by closed-cell foam tape when the top is finally done after painting & trim work. Use some standard grade laminate/Formica (roughly 1/16" thick x 1" x 2") as shims as you do the sanding. Stop for now, but you will be doing more sanding.

Apply a strip of 1/16" thick x 3/4" rubber to the rear lip/flange of the top. This is the area you just sanded. I used EPDM rubber as I had some and a little 3M #77. Let the top sit directly on the body and wiggle it a couple of times for a good fit. I got this far and four months went by and I could not work on it due to illness.

Install the steel pins into the furrels. I had installed the furrels for a soft top some time ago and the position of these was fixed. I had machined two aluminum bushes 1 1/4" in OD x 1/2" ID a 1 1/2" long and glassed these into the body to receive the furrels. These are strong & firm! (I think I will have to do the doors in a similar manner) Only 1/2" of the pins will enter the furrels. This depth is derived from the way the Butler made latches fit. I used 3/8" shaft collars as depth stops on the pins, this little trick will help make the fit easier as it holds the pins at the correct depth within the furrels. Make sure the setscrews (face screws inboard) of the collars are in a position that you can get an Allen/hex key to remove the collars later.

Once you are happy with fit of everything.; body, top windshield, rear latches. Epoxy the pins to the top with some epoxy dough. Only use enough to hold it in place. I used three 1/2" diameter balls of dough to do each pin. They sell the epoxy for fixing water leaks in pipes at the H-Depo and industrial centers like McMaster Carr. MAKE SURE THE REAR LATCHES ARE IN THE CORRECT LOCATION. Then do not touch it for 24 hours. More to come.....