1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the Aft Stateroom Walls II

Fitting the main walls to the aft stateroom is a major job that has to happen if I’m going to splash the boat this fall. Without walls in the aft stateroom, the teak aft deck above only has the curved mahogany frames to support it across the 12-foot span. It’s fairly bouncy when you walk across it even just sitting static in the yard, and I suspect it could be disastrous going out onto the Chesapeake without the deck properly shored up from below.

Getting the major walls installed is also a prerequisite for having the spray foam insulation done, which can only be done when it’s really warm…80 degrees, assuming you want the foam to expand to its maximum thickness. I’ve also heard it’s a real pain trying to bolt plywood to the frames when they’ve got an inch or two of closed cell foam in the way.

With the three major transverse walls dry-fitted and edge sealed, next up is final fitting the aft head wall along the center line of the boat.

The original bulkhead is somewhat less than square to the floor

Nice panel alignment, Chris Craft!

That’s a 2-finger gap!

On the other hand, it aligns nicely with the inside edge of the cross beam

But that gap is a deal killer. So I broke out the 1/4″ cheapo luan plywood and made a pattern to fit not just the wall, but also the complex overhead shape.

Good lookin’ pattern, eh?

Lots of trimming to make the panel fit the boat

But the trimmings will be put to good use filling the gaps between the other walls and hull frames.

That pesky little cut out to match the poorly fit original bulkhead

Many short pieces of luan glued and screwed together follow the contour of the bulkhead

Stripping the old paint from the bulkhead in preparation for new walls

The first pass with even the strongest paste stripper left a lot of old paint and primer behind.

Second pass took more old finish off

The third pass took it down to the grain

No more of the old finish is coming out of the grain. Since I’m down to the stable base, and it’s not going anywhere, it’s ready for sanding and coating.

More “panel tai chi,” and the centerline wall was fitted

Good lookin’ ply! Now it just needs some edge sealing.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the Aft Stateroom Walls III