Vinyl top installation .....

I used to help an old timer install tops many years ago. He did car dealer work so he took some shortcuts I wouldn't necessarily recommend but the tops looked good and stayed on. He even sewed his own tops, the center seam ones were easy.
I won't go into great detail as I type too slow but I'll hit some highlights so maybe someone will find a useful hint.
He first laid the vinyl on the roof and centered it. He then took a razor blade and cut some of the excess vinyl away over the windshield and back glass. He kind of cut an upside down 'u' area away, leaving the top a couple of inches long in the center, front and back. He then taped the top to the glass with 2 or 3 strips of tape in the front. Then he went to the back and pulled the top center just to stretch it a little and taped it to the back glass. The tape front and rear was just off the center of the top. This enabled him to fold half of the top over on itself. He then sprayed the glue on the exposed half of the roof of the car and the folded over vinyl. He swore by Formica brand countertop glue (said nothing else would stick) and sprayed it on with an old paint gun. He would then spread his arms wide and start at the center kind of roll the top toward himself. By spreading his arms out he could kind of stretch the top toward the front and rear as he rolled it to him. Going down the sail panel was a little tricky as the top would sometimes have to be stretched forward or backward to get it to lay right. Sometimes he would have to pull a spot loose and stretch it a little more to get a wrinkle out but he seldom had to. Besides the glue held so good you could hardly pull the top loose. When he got one side glued down he went to the other side, folded it over the half he just glued down, sprayed the glue on the top and the roof and then rolled it toward himself just like the other side.
He hand folded and glued the seams on the a pillars and below the rear window if the car had them. He never removed any of the trim. When he finished sticking the top down he just trimmed it with a razor blade to where it overlapped the mouldings a quarter of an inch or so. He then took a putty knife and stuffed the top under the mouldings. A shortcut I wouldn't recommend but he was doing dealer work so the faster, the better. In his prime he could install a top in about an hour, sometimes less.
Dallas
missourimopar.com