The first job was fitting the electric hookup. This will be used when we are on a camp site or have some other access to a mains electricity supply. I practised wiring it up before I put it into the van, so I was sure how to do it. It's basically the same as a household plug (live, neutral, earth).
Once I was happy with the wiring it was time to fit it to the van! This was scary stuff, cutting a hole in the side of the van! I had to cut away some of the insulation for where it was going to go. Once I had that done, I started by drilling a very small hole in what would be the centre of the inlet.
I then added masking tape all around this hole. This was to draw the template on and also to protect the paint work from the jigsaw.
I used cardboard to draw round the bit on the inlet that would be going into the van and then cut it out so I could use it as a template. This was then drawn round onto the masking tape.
I put 4 big drill holes in each of the corners (enough to fit the jigsaw blade in) and then went round the line with the jigsaw.
Because I was rather cautious, I actually cut the hole slightly small. So I used a file to make the bits I needed to, slightly wider. I painted round the edges with metal paint to protect from rust. I then wired the inlet up with a small bit of wire, put it into position and fitted the back housing.
I had to secure it in place with 4 thick screws in each corner. These are on the inside of the inlet so you can't see them. Before I screwed it all the way in, I added a thin layer of mastic tape around all the edges. This was to make it water tight. Once I was happy with it I screwed them in tight and cut away any overlapping mastic.
I gave it 24 hours and then cut away more mastic that had seeped out the sides. Then I went round the entire thing with a bead of sikaflex. This was just to make it extra water tight. I used masking tape to get the edges of the sikaflex nice and straight.
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