A job I'd had on my mind for a while was to add some roof vents to the 'van. There's a few reasons for this. I'm hoping it will help the overnight condensation and let out some of the heat on hotter days. Any extra airflow is a good thing anyway, although I generally open a window when the stove is on, and as there are low vents in the tailgate the roof vents should give a crossflow.
I chose low profile fixed vents and painted them with a plastic primer followed by a body colour top coat. Inside are some dark grey round metal louvre vents with built in fly screens. I used the appropriate Sykaflex sealant/adhesive and A2 stainless steel screws
As there's a gap between the roof and the headlining I made up two plywood boards, painted black, with suitable sized holes cut with a hole saw to provide something to screw into and to neaten the holes (they also provided a guide for cutting the headlining).
One thing I wasn't sure about was how best to cut the roof. After some advice on a forum I settled on using a step drill in the corners followed by some hand nibblers to "join the dots." It worked better than I'd hoped, although I was pleased I'd put some hardboard under the roof to protect the headlining (I'd only dropped it down at the front, not removed it completely). Before cutting I'd used copious amounts of masking tape to protect the surface and for marking out.
I used an extra screw to hold the wood spacer in place then installed the vents outside, using liberal amounts of sealant. Once the headlining was resecured I could cut the holes with a craft knife and screw the inside vents on.
Lessons learnt for the future if I do this again? A bit more care marking both outside and inside, it all looks fine but quite a bit is done by eye. I need to calculate screw lengths better, and have a selection available, it's all solidly fixed but I think that's more due to the Sykaflex than anything.
