The first step was removing the shelving, cabinet, bulkhead and floor. I sold the shelving and cabinet to a local business owner who will install it into an E-150 in his fleet. The bulkhead removal required drilling out rivets, this was not a fun task. I used a wine cork (thanks Cathy) cut to length and drilled through it so I could drill out the pin in each rivet without hitting the exterior of the van. Instead I would hit my cork stopper. The floor came out easily and after a scrub I was left impressed with how little rust I found, and how much space I have to work with.

I enlisted the help of a metal worker friend (thanks Tim) to cut the approximately 14″ x 14″ hole required to mount a MaxxFan model 7000K (thanks Bob). This is an endeavor I’m glad I didn’t attempt myself. This was an afternoon of measuring, drilling, measuring, scoring, cutting, sanding and fitting the mounting bracket.

After Tim left it was time to fumble my way through the rest of the fan instillation. I used two tubes of the silicone recommended in the instillation instructions to mount and weatherproof the bracket, this was messy. I soon figured out I wasn’t supplied with self tapping screws. After a trip to the hardware store (I make many of these) and some more silicone I was able to finish mounting the fan.

With the fan installed I pulled out what little electrical knowledge I have to get it wired up and running. My plan is to install solar panels and a battery bank, but in the mean time I needed to get it running off the battery in the van. I purchased a cigarette lighter plug extension cord, wire stripper/crimper and some connectors. The extension cord has a 10 amp fuse, which according to a crazy thorough Amazon review of the fan should be plenty to run the fan without blowing said fuse.

The fan is great, it has 10 speed settings and can move a lot of air. It will suck or blow. It can be used with the cover opened or closed, even while driving. It has an indoor temperature sensor and can be set to cycle through its settings to try and maintain whatever temperature you set it to. And it comes with the ugliest remote.