[Shop-talk] Removing old bathroom wall extractor fan

[Jim Franklin]

Hi all...I'm trying to remove this wall fan in a 200 year old house. It vents into the "garage" right behind some cast iron drain pipes and those pipes are blocking me from just pulling it straight out so I'm trying to pull each half out from its respective side of the wall. (I don't know how they installed it- I would have expected the pipes to pre-date the fan but the fan is probably 70s vintage so maybe the fan predates PVC and plumbing was added in the years between the fan and PVC). 

Anyway, the fan looks to be this style/model:

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCu8OhTtUkAEajfy.jpg&tbnid=JxaOVMSud28bgM&vet=10CBYQMyhyahcKEwig3Jb9mvX_AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fd0n_r%2Fstatus%2F787864510031769600&docid=1TasVlklGIo5zM&w=1200&h=673&q=original%20bathroom%20wall%20fan&client=firefox-b-1-d&ved=0CBYQMyhyahcKEwig3Jb9mvX_AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg

It appears that the fan is in two sliding pieces so it can adjusted to the thickness of the wall, but I'm having a real hard time separating the two halves even though I don't see any mechanical fasteners holding them together such as screws you'd see on ductwork. I can't see the outer perimeter of the fan because of plaster, insulation, etc. 

My question is, if you've come across this type of fan before, and are there any other interlocking mechanisms that might be holding them together or is it just 50 years of crud? Prying on the inside half's rolled lip just makes a lot of "dust" when the pry bar eventually slips. 

I'll attach the best photo of mine I could take but I don't think it will be of any use. The nut/bolt you see is only holding an outlet to the vertical bar and also the bathroom side cover, and was removed. 

thanks,
jim

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