I finally got a dry day to work on the van, so the project was to install the roof rack. The roof rack is a predecessor to installing the AC unit and the MaxAir fan, because you need to roof rack to sit on and work on. You don’t want to be sitting on the thin metal roof when installing those items, as the roof metal may bend or buckle.
We got started about 9:00, and it was already warm out. It was sunny too, which made it seem hotter. I had purchased the roof rack from a company called AVG. They had a good installation video that we would be using for the day’s project. I had texted everyone the following process video the day before, so they could prepare;
I was glad to have another person with me for this install. Pat had installed the roof rack on his van, and it was good to have his experience as well. It was still a lot of going up and down ladders. Fortunately, I have a couple of tall ladders that we used. Here are the before pictures of the van without the roof rack. That’s Pat in the one picture;
This whole van build is being done in the driveway, with the garage serving the purpose of the workshop. The sun was really beating down on us, and it got very hot. Even leaning against the van to perform the install was hot on our hands. But we powered through for four hours, until 1:00, and completed the job. Here is what the roof rack looks like on the van. We had one bolt hole that was interfered with by the sheetmetal, just like in the above video. I used my Dremmel tool to cut away enough sheet metal to allow access to the bolt hole.
After buying lunch for the work crew, it was too hot to do any more for the day. I was hoping to install the shore power outlet, but I’ll wait for cooler temperatures. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry and cloudy, but still hot. The project for tomorrow is to put in the roof top AC unit.