Silly me. I have used a small piece of 2 x 4 lumber for a top spacer for years. I only yell at it when I can't find it.

Hahaha @Fred Mattson. Yup, my father used the 2x4 when I wasn't around (see how easily replaceable I was?) :lol:

We still use the 2x4 today. But now we might just have to build a horse...

I use the box that the top comes in to hold it up. Like the 2x4 method you guys are using.
The un-opened end of the box put under the center of the header bow. It's usually strong enough to hold the top. If it isn't, I stuff the old top inside. Tape up the opened end.
It can flipped around to hold it up high or just off of the windshield, by a couple of inches.
When I was first learning tops, the guy teaching me did that. It's the only way I've ever done them.
Both those methods posted are new to me!
Besides, with my luck, one way or another, that 2x4'd get knocked out & it'd drop.
Scratch/dent the hood. (Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor voice.) "Oooh Nooo."
Or fall inside & rip something. That I can do something about. The first? Well...nope!
Maybe it's just me, but I'm more than just a bit paranoid of anything happening to a customer's vehicle while it's in my shop.
Nothing hanging on the one wall next to the vehicle.
Ladders out of the bay.
Brooms on the other side of the shop.
Lights on tri-pod stands are moved away past their distance of reach. (Trip on a chord? Down goes the light. Happens too easy. Spare bulbs are in the toolbox.)
Have one air line with a connection in the middle. Made a Vinyl/Velcro cover.
Some of these vehicle's paint jobs are worth more than both my trucks, combined. Damaging one is the stuff of nightmares. For me, anyways.

Looks much safer...
I have been using the 2x4 since the 70's
Back in the day Treon Manufacturing ,which was located where ET Tops is now,
would supply a piece of 2x4 , with Treon burnt into the wood, to lift the top
so you could unzip the rear window.
Looks like we will be building a horse ....

I also use a box. The horse does look like it would be more stable. Great idea.

That's a great idea with the horses. I use a wedged foam block . Let's us adjust to different heights and add foam to it as needed. I don't have to worry about damage when it falls which unfortunately was learned the hard way!

Wow! I didn't realize so many shops had their own methods for holding up convertible tops. Necessity really is the mother of invention!

Our 2x4 is wrapped in headliner fabric, which is so sort of a hybrid of the methods used by @Fred Mattson and @Eric Gordon.

@jim zabatta, that's some clever marketing on behalf of Treon!

Check this out

I’ve used a roll of paper towels, cardboard box or a cut piece of the cardboard tube from a material roll