A sunny and cooler day to install the MaxxAir fan in the roof of the van. My friend Pat came over to help and was great with advice and assistance. Started at 9:00 with seting up everything on the roof. We had to move the plywood sheet back a little, and move one of the crossbars of the roof rack out of the way. We also discussed the pros and cons of different locations to install the fan, but ended up with putting it in the back bay as was the original plan.
I drilled a hole from the inside of the van to mark the spot where the 14″x14″ hole needed to be cut. Then I went up to the roof and used the flange (I bought this separately especially for the Ford Transit roof) for the fan install as a template to mark off the cut lines on the top of the van. I taped off the lines with painter’s tape, then drilled 3/16″ holes in the other three corners. I then used a step drill to open up those holes big enough to insert the jigsaw blade. Then I used the jigsaw to cut out the square hole with Pat underneath taping the cut metal to the roof, so it wouldn’t vibrate or fall down.
Once the hole was cut, we cleaned it up with a debur tool and file and painted the exposed metal with primer. While the primer dried, we prepared the adhesive to secure the flange to the van roof. Once we had secured the flange with the adhesive, we went out for a second breakfast to give the adhesive at least an hour to cure.
When we returned, we applied butyl tape to the back side of the adapter ring that comes with the MaxxAir fan and attached it to the top of the flange. Then we drilled 16 holes through the adapter, flange, and van roof to secure the screws that will hold everything to the roof of the van. After screwing in all of the screws, we weren’t happy with the little amount of thread that came through the van roof. I think the thickness of the flange was a problem. So, we went down the street to Ace Hardware and purchased some longer screws. Came back and changed them out, and it looked much better.
Once we were happy with how the adapter and flange were mounted to the roof, I covered all the screws heads and seams with a self-leveling sealant to provide extra waterproofing. By this time, it was getting hot out, especially on top of the van. The sealant was very runny, but it still worked. It was just more messy than expected. I was glad Pat was there to hand me lots of paper towels to clean up my messes. I let that sealant cure for about four hours.
After dinner, Elizabeth helped me to insert the MaxxAir fan into the adapter, making sure that the wires didn’t pinch. I attached four screws to secure the fan to the adapter, which finished the installation. Here is a picture of the installed fan.
Elizabeth and Artie helped me to take down the sheet of plywood from the roof of the van. We returned it back to the saw horses in the garage/workshop.
I’ll be taking a week off from the van as I’m travelling to Wisconsin to visit family. That will give all the sealants and adhesives plenty of time to cure. Overall, I’m extremely satisfied with how much progress we made on the van in the last week. It’s gone much better and faster than I imagined. It was great to have so much help, and the fellowship made the experience more rewarding.
