When I bought RTA I was told to do the rears first, then on to the windscreen studs. However, after I'd re-proofed the hood there was NO WAY that hood would stretch over the windscreen studs.
So I had to do things front to back. If the hood hadn't been used for a few months (common) I used to fit front and rear then force the hoodsticks up under the hood. Took time, but it was the ONLY way to get that canvas hood on.
As it had a "bench" seat (i.e. single backrest across the car) it wasn't possible to fit the hood swivels as available from the likes of HoE / John Taylor. However, I later saw some made by Frank Orton for the 4-seater he restored, which did not protrude into the car and they could have been fitted to my old 4/4.
Stuart, it's important to release the Tennax fasteners before releasing the rear hood catches so as to put no additional strain on the fasteners. But you know that
There won't be much strain if not so done, however owners forget they haven't released the fasteners and proceed to release the front and open the hood. That's when the fastener bases break...
