David McNett

Step 1: open the top to "the service position" which is just a fancy way of saying "half way down"

This is also a great opportunity to clean leaves and crud out from the back deck lid

Next you've got to disconnect these two braided wire safety lines. There's one on each side. See Moonwick's Miata in the background getting a new radiator. The SmartTop is a lot simpler to install than a radiator.

There's a safety cable on the other side, too. They just pop off on the bottom with a little bit of twisting and tugging.

Once both cables are disconnected you can lift the glass window and sort of jam it into the top so that it stays up.

Here's the little ball-post where the cable used to be attached

Remove the plastic discs and peel back the lining to reveal the black top control module thingey. Gawk at the cool tubular support frame that your car is built out of.

Re-read the instructions for the eleventy-ninth time and convince yourself that it really is as simple as it sounds.

Removing the plug from the bottom of the module is a bit tricky. Here's a closeup on the plug mechanism. You'll sort of have to feel it out blind. There's a little black tab that sits inside the grey part and you'll have to depress that black tab to get the grey part to move, releasing the plug.

The instructions call for you to then place the SmartTop module into the plug on the bottom of the black box. I tried for about five minutes before I gave up. It's not clear if it would have been easier if I'd been clean-shaven, but I doubt it.

Here's the thing: Don't bother trying to plug the SmartTop module in like this. You're going to basically remove the whole black box to fit the velcro anyway, so save yourself some grief and remove the box and THEN plug the smarttop module in. It's about a million times easier that way.