Post 7: The first side window - (reader discretion advised: adult language/profanity)

 Post 7: The BIGGEST test to date - the driver's side window - Part I

This is a picture from the inside of the van, where the driver's side window would go. I stared at the enCOURAGEment for a long while. I summoned mine and confidently went forward. The fan installation was one thing, however a HUGE hole in the side of the van for a window that had to fit perfectly...by far another. I had ordered custom after-market windows specifically for the Ford Transit from Motion Windows company. They had a very helpful video for DIYers such as myself. I literally watched it 20 times. Read and re-read the directions dozens of times. Take the window frame (separate piece), make a cardboard template. Tape the template to the window, draw the outline, drill pilot holes for the saw, and cut from the outside. Insert window from the outside after having placed the double-sided tape on the touchpoints, insert the frame from the inside, screw them together, and done! Easy-peasy. 

I meticulously traced the frame and made the template. Brought it out to the van, lined it up to make sense for the window placement inside, and drew the outline. With all the confidence in the world, I drilled and cut, metal sparks flying at me and burning my arms, Jim holding the vibrating metal sheet, until it fell out leaving a gaping hole. I was so excited! Jim and I grabbed the heavy and cumbersome window to place it into the hole. It DID NOT FIT! The hole was wrong. Too narrow on one end and too wide on the other. I felt the bile rise in my throat. My heartbeat hastened and my brain started to swim. What could I possibly have done wrong??

I couldn't even begin to think clearly.  I suggested to Jim, and he readily agreed, that we walk away and start fresh tomorrow. It wasn't until the following weekend that we tackled the problem. Every night during that week I slept like CRAP worrying and wondering how the HELL I was going to have the huge hole, one-half of the entire side of my van, repaired at a body shop, if it was even possible. WHY didn't I have this done professionally? Who the hell was I to think that I could tackle this, with NO experience. What the f*&k had I done?

( I couldn't bear to take photos of the blunder, so there are none here. See Part II for the reveal)