I'm starting to think about fitting the soft top to my Rossa and I'm just wondering if there's anything that I should be aware of - any hints, tips etc? There are no markings on the windscreen rail showing where the catches should go so some careful measuring will no doubt be needed here because it doesn't look as if there will be a lot of 'meat' left to secure the rivnuts once the holes have been drilled. I'm not even sure that I have all the Spitfire bits needed

hi, i never fitted the soft top before selling it on but my windscreen rail has two moldings which look like they are for the catches and circles where to drill. is yours just a flat all the way across. i think gtm were hit and miss when molding, mine doesnt have the locating bits in the bottom of the front tub to main body, but has them on the main body part so i have to make sone spaces i think to line the front end up.

Hi. It's flat all the way across. Mine is an early one (December 1987) and I don't think that the soft top was available then. Does this mean that I'm going to have to do something different to get it to fit? I've been a bit concerned about drilling the holes and then making a bigger hole between them for the pin of the catch to go into because it looks as if it could become quite weak but, having said that, if the rail was any different then the hardtop wouldn't fit. Are the extra mouldings that were on yours just to show where to drill or are they a bit more than that, recesses maybe? If anybody has a photo of the area in question it would be very helpful.

Hi Raymond

As far as I am aware the soft top was an afterthought on the Rossa 1 & 2.
No provision was made for fitting the camplates into the windscreen top rail
so the levers had to be fitted there instead.
The soft top front rail moulding was designed to accept the camplates.
This gives a working system but with the levers on the top of the screen
the pins are facing towards your forehead when the hood is down.
This problem was corrected on the K3.
As the new Triumph levers are difficult to obtain anyway, I did look into
using some type of toggle clamp but as yet have not found anything suitable.
I'll be watching your posts with interest.

if i remember correctly they were to show where to drill/fix. i will go through the photos of when i got it to see if any show it because they cant be seen now as i have fixed and bonded the roof in place with no joints.

Oh Lordy! Now I'm really confused Thanks for that, Alan - I'd never have thought of it that way. I can't think how the levers are fitted to the top rail - is the rail slotted so that the lever can be inserted from behind? I need a session with my box of bits and a large mug of strong coffee. I'll let you know how I get on. (Sounds like another can of worms )

Baxter - if the rail is just marked to show where to drill don't bother looking for a photo because I'll have to measure it anyway but thanks for your offer.

I've got this sussed now I've had a good look through the parts that I've accumulated over the years and I have a pair of the correct handles for this. They're certainly a bit basic but at least I have them. It means that the two pairs of cam catches and nice chrome handles I have from the Mk 4 Spit are unsuitable, unfortunately, but there's always ebay!

I actually have two soft tops - one of which is very tatty with a good frame and catches for spares. The other one is in much better condition but the front of the fabric is peeling away from the front rail and is rather worse than I remembered it as being, not helped by some numpty trying to repair it with white PVA adhesive!!I had meant to try Evostik on it but I'm beginning to think that it might be better sending it away to be repaired professionally - more money