Spitballing here... Maybe protect your finish by masking it up as if you were going to paint? Heck, then you could even gorilla tape some moving blankets onto that to make it more comfortable for yourself, seeing as there will be hours of leaning on the roof involved.
Adding: Not very proud or happy to say it, but some previous owner's upholstery shop took out the insert on my '35 Touring and put it back in using convertible top fabric!
That car has plenty of issues but the roof isn't one of them... Yet.