I didn’t have the van in the morning, so I dedicated the day to preparing the driver’s side window for installation tomorrow. The window that I am installing is the CRL FW293L Ford Transit driver-side forward vented window. I really like the design of this window, and I think it will look great in the van. However, the manufacturer of the window (CR Laurence) has absolutely no information about how to install it. They do reference a very summary YouTube video, but that’s all. While in WI last week, I found some other YouTube videos that did a better job of describing how to install this window and I took the best from all of them to come up with the process that I used. Because there is so little information out there about how to install this window, I’m going to go into a little more detail on this blog post in case another DIY van builder can benefit from this process detail.
As with most projects, prior preparation prevents poor performance. So, I expect that I’ll spend more time today preparing this window for the installation than actually installing it tomorrow. Here is a picture of what the window looks like when it is installed. The window will allow me to open the bottom and there are screens on the inside to prevent bugs from getting in. So, the window will help with ventilation in the van.
The first task was to create a template for the hole that I need to cut in the side of the van. The window is awkward to work with, as it is not flat, and there are curves on each of the corners. So, I started out by using some Ram Board (i.e., thick kraft paper) to obtain a rough outline of the hole that needs to be cut out. I started by cutting diagonals across the window and peeling back the Ram Board to identify how to cut the lengths.
Once I cut the lengths (by hand), I then cut out scrap pieces to fit the gaps between the Ram Board and the window. I used duct tape to attach the scrap pieces to the Ram Board. So, when I was finished, I had a good template for the hole to cut in the van.
But to fit this window correctly on the van, you need to also trim it down to get the outside of the window. This is because the outside of the window needs to fit into the “pocket” on the driver’s side of the van. So, I flipped the window over, traced the outside of the window on the Ram Board, and cut the Ram Board with a pair of scissors. I had to go back and trim it a little to get it right. But, once done, I had a template on Ram Board that matched both the inside cut for the window, and the outside of the window for the correct placement on the side of the van.
While Ram Board is easy to work with and create this kind of template, its a little too flimsy to use to mark up the hole in the side of the van. I did use Ram Board to lay out the cuts for the subfloor in the van, but in that case, everything was flat on the ground. The hole on the side of the van is curved and verticle. So, I traced the Ram Board template onto a piece of cardboard. The cardboard came from the box that held the window when I picked it up.
I then used a jigsaw to cut out the template on the cardboard. I think a jigsaw is a great tool for this work, because it is easy to control, especially in the curves, and it cuts the cardboard fast and clean. So, I was left with a cutout template made of more rigid cardboard. I test fit it on the window and was very happy with the fit. Fortunately, no trimming of the cardboard was needed.
I tested out the cardboard template on the side of the van, and it fit on the van perfectly. So, I’m very happy that I’ll be cutting the hole for this window in the right place tomorrow.
This window is attached to the side of the van using a Trim Ring, and that Trim Ring is screwed into the window that you see above with 20 screws. I’ve heard of a few DIY’ers having problems associated with the screws that CR Laurence (CRL) provides, so I took the advice of a YouTuber (https://youtu.be/1RV8uZG6zjo?si=07TCE6BS0sFvs0em) and will not use the CRL screws. I purchased a 3.3mm drill bit, a M4 x 0.70 HS GD4P tap, and M4 – 0.70 x 12 socket head cap screws to replace the CRL ones.
In the pictures below the CRL screws are the black ones on the right, and the screws I will use are on the left. The CRL screws are longer and some have had issues with them being too long. Even in the video that CRL references as the instructions the DIY’er added a homemade spacer to account for these screws being too long. Second, there is not much metal for these screws to bite into on the window and the screw that I am going with will have twice the number of threads holding the window in place. Third, the screws I bought have a hex head which will be easier to torque in than the phillips head of the CRL screws. Lastly, since I will drill and tap the holes in the window frame, I can use loctite to prevent the screws from loosening in the future.
To start the process of drilling and tapping the holes for the Trim Ring, I first used some clamps to attach the Trim Ring to the window. This is harder than it sounds, because the Trim Ring is a little flimsy and honestly it doesn’t fit the window perfectly – there is some slop in it. But, I used the clamps and adjusted the fit until I was happy with it.
I used a silver colored Sharpie marker to mark the hole locations thru the Trim Ring and onto the window. Then I removed the Trim Ring and drilled and tapped the 20 holes in the window. Here is a good picture of the window with the Trim Ring next to it. You can see that the Trim Ring is split on the bottom, which makes it more flimsy. When you clamp the Trim Ring onto the window, you’re shooting for the two ends of the Trim Ring to match up next to each other exactly.
I was making good progress drilling the holes until my 3.3mm drill bit broke on the 11th hole.
I was kind of stuck, because I didn’t have another 3.3mm drill bit. But before I went to the hardware store looking for this special size of drill bit, I looked up what the Imperial equivalent was to 3.3mm. Turns out a 3.3mm drill bit is 0.1299 inches in diameter and a 1/8″ drill bit is 0.125 inches (of course). That’s pretty close, so I drilled a hole with the 1/8″ drill bit and the tap worked fine in it. So, I used the 1/8″ drill bit for the rest of the holes and that saved me a trip to the hardware store. Once the holes are drilled and tapped, they look something like this (after the metal shavings are vacuumed up).
With all the holes drilled and tapped, the next step was to dry fit the Trim Ring onto the window to ensure that everything lines up. I’m glad that I did that, because three holes didn’t line up and I couldn’t screw in the screws. They weren’t off my much, but I wanted all 20 screws in this window. There were also another three screws that were close to not fitting. So, I used my Sharpie marker to mark which holes on the Trim Ring needed to be opened up a little. I removed the Trim Ring and opened up those holes with a Dremmel tool. Then the Trim Ring went back on without any issues. I’ll likely use a washer on those screws where the Trim Ring hole is a little larger, just to be sure. Here is what the window looks like with all the screws in.
I removed the screws and the Trim Ring and set it aside. After 3 1/2 hours, that ended my day of window prep. Tomorrow a friend of mine is coming over to help me cut the hole in the side of the van and install this window.