Patent ID: 7992302

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a plurality of convertible roofs for assembly to a plurality of vehicle bodies to provide a series of vehicles, the vehicle bodies each having a passenger compartment and a windshield frame at the front of the passenger compartment, each convertible roof when assembled having a forward end and a rearward end, the convertible roofs each having an extended position wherein the forward end connects to the respective windshield frame, the method comprising: providing a lower tool frame; providing a plurality of structural roof parts each having an outer surface such that the outer surfaces cooperate to form an outer surface of a convertible roof when assembled, the structural roof parts having a use position when assembled and the convertible roof is in the extended position; disposing the structural roof parts in the lower tool frame upside down with respect to their use position; providing forward connection parts for selectively connecting the forward end of the convertible roof to the windshield frame and rearward connection parts for attaching the rearward end of the convertible roof to the vehicle body; providing a single upper tool frame that is lowerable onto the lower tool frame; and using the single upper tool frame to position the forward and rearward connection parts with respect to the structural roof parts; wherein the single upper tool frame is used to assemble all of the convertible roofs for the series of vehicles.