I ripped my top off too. It was all ripped up and missing chunks of vinyl. Then once I got it all off, I had to smooth out all the rough spots. I still have to paint the car though. Even though everybody takes their vinyl top off, I like the half top look, and rather use a different material. I wanna use that black gator print leather on the top. I was wondering about the padding, or if I could not use the padding, but wondering how it would look without it. I'm open to suggestions.