1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making a Data Inlet

With Tent Model XXX finished (and still as tight as a drum), for 2016 I’m focusing on closing up holes on the exterior, making the boat watertight, and some safety stuff so I can splash the boat and get it around to my home port. In the coming months I’ll be working on installing the new raw water intakes and strainers for the Cummins 6CTAs I installed recently. I’ve also got to fabricate the rest of the exhaust and hook up the engine electrical and fuel lines. I’ll finish up the helm windshield installation, and get new tinted glass for the salon, portholes, and helm side windows. The teak swim platform needs to be installed, too, since the mounting bolts go well below the waterline. I also bought a bunch of safety rail stanchions to replace the ones stolen by the bastard thieves in May 2014, and they need to go to the chrome shop along with fuel and water fills. All of that needs to be installed to seal up the fore and side decks. I also need to install the shore power connector and data inlet, since the holes for those two items are up on the bow and will definitely get wet when I head out on the Chesapeake later this year (for real this time!).

While shore power connectors are available on the shelf, I couldn’t find a data connector that suited my needs. All of the ones I found had F-type connectors for cable TV and land-line telephone marine connectors. But I haven’t had a land-line in almost a decade, and what I really need is an ethernet port since my marina’s super-fast internet runs through ethernet cable, not the cable TV line. So…if I can’t find what I need, I guess I have to make it.

Furrion FPTINS-PS is non-metallic, which I like since my Roamer is an aluminum boat

For being almost 50 years old, my hull and decks are in extremely good shape…probably because the boat was out of the water since the mid-1980s. Where there was corrosion, which got taken care of when we had the hull sandblasted inside and out, it was all around other metals that were attached or close to the aluminum. So to the extent possible, I’m avoiding metal where I can and isolating it where I can’t. Furrion’s non-metallic product line is just what I need.

Old-school data ports.

Anybody using land-lines anymore? Not me!

This shouldn’t be too difficult

The back cover pops off

Remove two screws and the black plastic thingy comes off

Chromed brass land-line terminals slide out of the plastic housing

New parts are sooooo much easier to disassemble than original stuff that’s a half-century old!

Remove three screws and the housing comes out

ShopSmith bandsaw will make quick work of the unnecessary bits

Gone!

Touch up the backside on the ShopSmith 12″ disk sander

The new waterproof RJ45 panel mount connector arrived just in time

Milwaukee hole saw removes the material that’s in the way

The hole for the land-line center pin made a perfect pilot hole dead-center in the part. I didn’t plan it that way but can’t complain when stuff just kind of works with the concept. 🙂

Touched up the new hole so the RJ45 connector threads in with a touch of resistance

Sikaflex seals the backside

Gasket and nut thread on the front side

Looks OEM to me!

Back in the package for installation later

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Engine Room Steps