Build Day 1
Day 1 kicked off with a 45-minute drive to a friend’s house — he had some of the tools I needed to get things rolling. The two main tasks for the day were installing the roof rack and the Maxxair fan. We didn’t really know how long either would take, but we had about 5–6 hours to work with before I had to head home. Oh, and it was 95 degrees out. With humidity. Not ideal.
We started with the fan. After tracing and cutting the roof opening, we test-fitted the flange and built a wooden support frame to go inside the van. While the glue for that frame dried, we turned our attention to the roof rack. I’ll go into more detail about the rack in a separate post, but we managed to get the four side panels installed and secured.
That took maybe 20 minutes. Then it was back to the fan. We laid down butyl tape, stuck the flange into the roof, applied liquid nails to the wood frame underneath, and drilled the frame into the flange. Normally, you’d clamp the frame to the roof and wait for it to dry before attaching everything — but with two people, one of us held it in place while the other drilled. We test-fit the fan itself and it looked solid. The next step was sealing everything with self-leveling sealant, but since that stuff takes 12–24 hours to dry, we held off until the next morning.
Back on the roof rack — we hit a snag. One of the bolts in the side panel base sheared off. No spares were included, so the rest of the install (especially the front crossbars) had to be paused until I could get a replacement. The rear crossbars would have to wait too.
Day 1 (and a half)
The next morning, I sealed the flange and screws with self-leveling sealant and let it cure for 24 hours. I also reached out to Flatline Van Co about the sheared bolt, and their customer service was great — they shipped a full set of replacement parts without any hassle. I decided to hold off on the crossbars until those arrived.
What’s Next
The replacement parts came in on July 2nd (about a week after the above). I’ll likely wrap up the roof rack install in the next week or so.
I’m currently debating whether to hire a pro for the solar panel install. I’d feel a bit better having someone experienced handle the roof passthroughs for both the solar wiring and Starlink — I don’t want to mess those up. So for now, I’m holding off on solar.
In other news: I picked up three new tools — a Milwaukee drill/driver set and a circular saw. The set came with high-capacity batteries that also work with the saw, so it’s a great starting setup. I’ll still need more tools, but it’s progress.
I also placed an order for building materials, including smaller 20”x30” Baltic Birch sheets to cut into furring strips. Not sure when they’ll arrive, but once they do, I’ll begin work on the furring strips. Once that's done, onto insulation and subfloor.
On a fun note: I tested the fan and external lighting with power hooked up. The fan kicked on instantly — super cool to see it come alive for the first time.
I’ve got a flight in August and I’m hoping to camp in the van the night before at the airport. That means I need the insulation, flooring, walls, ceiling, bed frame, and power system finished by then. It’s a stretch — but fingers crossed.
PS: Out of curiosity, I got a quote for a full wrap to change the van color. The first company quoted $7,500. Yeah. I was expecting $4–5k, which is already steep, but that was next level. I’ll keep shopping around and see if anyone’s more reasonable.
Next week we dive into the roof rack.