Just finished installing a '91 Miata soft top. Truly aggravating. This was, however, my first time.
If you ever try it, you'll need:
-a LOT of patience.
-Expect it to take 2 full days. No distractions from the kids, etc.
-Go ahead and buy the new rain rail. You'll need it. I know, they want more for that dumb piece of plastic than you paid for the cheap top you bought off E-bay, but buy one anyway. Don't be a cheapa$$ like me.
-Buy the new cables as well. Yours are broken.
-Go ahead and remove the seats first thing.
-Get help for at least for the final install of the nuts holding the whole assembly to the rear deck.
-Don't get help for anything else. More than one person will surely loose bolts, tear something, etc.
-Don't remove anything by force. There are rivets, trim buttons, and screws hiding in very weird places. Everything comes off easily.
-Pay VERY close attention taking it apart, and VERY good track of all the screws, weatherstripping, etc. you pull off.
-Expect to make a trip to AutoZone near the end for plastic trim buttons (use new ones), rivets, and the screws you lost 'cause you didn't listen to me.
If you buy a cheap vinyl top (like me), they may send you 2 straps with grommets on the end and velcro tabs. The instructions for these are written by a Chinese first year English student who has never worked on a car. What the instructions are trying to tell you is that the straps go from the top rear "corner" of the roof to the rear deck under the vinyl, and define the crisp body lines at the rear corners. They also space #3 and #4 bows from each other. The velcro wraps around the bows, and the straps stick to the velcro. You could skip these, but the top will sag and look bad at the rear.
After 2 days of aggravation, you made it! Close the top and...Oh crap, it's 3" short from the latches. The vinyl needs stretching. I used a small ratchet strap wrapped around the steering wheel to stretch the top forward and latch it. Couple of days in the sun, and it should be fine.
BTW- I did use the cheapo rain rail that came with the cheapo top. It worked, but I loath the day that I will probably have to do this again.
Mine looks fabulous, but I am a VERY patient man, with a LOT of mechanical experience, and a willingness to do things like bodywork (which I know most of you hate).
The trim shop wanted $250 for the install. Probably should have paid them.
Good luck!
Yeah when i put mine in i was sweating like a whore in church
Putting a new top on my Miata made me sell it.
I put a new top on an MGB once (which is a pup tent in comparison to the Miata. Swore it's the last top I'll ever do.
Putting a top on my Jeep was easy. Can't wait to take it back off though. Jeeps are made to wear bikinis. 
Speaking of which - does anyone use a bikini style top on other convertibles, or is it just a jeep thing?
seen a bikini on a locost before...
My first one only took 1/2 a day, but then I watched several at club tech days. A good local Miata club will have tech days with helpful folks who have done tops before-makes a huge difference.
If only someone would write a book with how to install a Miata top...oh, wait!
I've only installed Robbins tops, and they went on nicely. Very easy.
We have a bikini top on our Westfield. I also have one for my old Land Rover.
I don't think I have ever installed a miata top... only ripped them out 
The hard top is easy enough to install.
The second one goes much easier. By the third one you'll feel like a superhero.
In regards to how damn tight the new top is: what I do is get all the nuts on the rainrail section but loosely, then adjust the top latches as tight as they can be adjusted and still close, latch the top down, THEN tighten the 14 nuts on the rain rail. Leave the top closed for a few days (preferrably out in the sun) then adjust the latches to a "normal" tightness.
Soft tops suck. If you think you're getting good at working with soft tops, something new and baffling will come along that will make you feel like everything you've learned is useless.
Anybody know any trick to adjusting the weatherstripping?
I've still got a pretty big gap where the passenger window should seal into the weatherstripping at the top rear edge of the glass.
SVreX wrote: Anybody know any trick to adjusting the weatherstripping? I've still got a pretty big gap where the passenger window should seal into the weatherstripping at the top rear edge of the glass.
Amongst the hackish methods I have used are:
a: elongating the slot in the bracket so I could move the weatherstripping further towards the window
2: adjusting the windows stops so the window goes up further
SVreX wrote: Anybody know any trick to adjusting the weatherstripping? I've still got a pretty big gap where the passenger window should seal into the weatherstripping at the top rear edge of the glass.
Um-carry a towel in the car?
I agree it is a bit of a bear, but not so much because it is beyond the average DIY person, just that that it is a big job with a corresponding learning curve. Also, whenever you do something for the first time, you learn how to do it properly the second time!
I would not hesitate to do it a second time, but I would do as you say and buy the rainrail and cables.
I converted my 90 to a Robbin's glass rear window and found it to be a very satisfying job when done.
Pete
I agree, it can be done with very satisfactory results by the average DIYer.
Or, at least, the average DIYer with a LOT of patience.
How does it compare to a Miata clutch install?
takes me longer to do the top then the clutch.
That's what I was afraid of....
I was surprised at how easily my top install went. It's been a long time so I had forgotten a lot of stuff from the process until I read this post...but still, it was easier than I would have thought after reading stories like this.
I got the cheap top from ebay too...
Clem
I thought it was pretty straight-forward. I got mine on e-bay from Daveshouze with a rainrail already attached. Had I not spent over an hour trying to install the metal rain rail bracket upside-down, it would have been pretty easy.
Nice, except Daveshouze doesn't sell any more.
Back from the dead because it came up on a search for Miata top installs. I'm doing one today and y'all aren't making me look forward to it.
I'd much rather pay someone $250 rather than spend two full days of my own time installing a soft top...
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