Cutting the fan hole
Finally got some time to work on fixing this thing back up. I had been getting materials and cutting boards, waiting for some time to get back to work. I had decided I wanted a few additional support ribs in the front ceiling area and cut down a 2x4 to some 1" x 1.5" strips to match the ribs that were already up there. I laid out the places where they would go, drilled holes for the corners of the opening and started cutting the foam with a new utility knife. I had a piece of 1.5" wide aluminum flat bar that made a great guide for the blade and made nice straight cuts. Once all the channels were cut I took my jigsaw and cut the main opening the standard 14.5" x 14.5" where the fan will go. I also pulled the front light down and located the wiring that's run under the insulation and I'll tap into that for my fan wiring since it's plenty big and the light will be upgraded to LED. After making sure all the pieces fit the way I wanted to I clamped them to the table, drilled and countersunk holes, gorilla glued and finally screwed the frame together.
The next step is to get the channels filled with glue, lay the frame in place and clamp/screw it till dry. I'll then fill in the chunk of missing foam that you can see next to one of the rib channels.
You can see that my 'helper' was with me every step of the way and was eager to help whenever he could.
Felt good to make some visible progress. My son has been beating me up to go camping and I'm hoping to get it back working for my favorite season, fall.
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