1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: ICA Base Coat on the V-berth/Galley Bulkhead

The headliner tracks are getting installed, so I needed to get the last bare mahogany veneers on the V-berth/galley bulkhead varnished with ICA polyurethane base coat. If I’m doing the V-berth side, I might as well do the galley at the same time.

The mahogany veneer looks pretty good

It’s been protected with cardboard since I installed it back in December 2017. How time flies…

This part is mostly inside the galley cabinet

The big wall will mostly be covered by upper and lower galley cabinets

I used Mirka Abranet in 240 grit to prep the panels

The V-berth side of the bulkhead will get varnished, too

Once I’d sanded everything with 240, I blew dust out of the wood grain, vacuumed the area, wiped everything down with alcohol and a microfiber cloth, then got to mixing the ICA.

ICA 272 base coat, 1015 reducer, and 266 catalyst

This was a horrible mistake

DO NOT BUY 6001CN organic respirator filters!!!

I thought I was getting a good deal on some respirator filters advertised on ebay. They were listed as 6001, but it turns out they were the Chinese version. The 6001 filters I had on my respirator had been used and were long past their expiration date. But when I put on the respirator with the new 6001CN filters, a strange smell came through…and it was coming from the filters. I hadn’t mixed the ICA yet, and the salon didn’t have any chemical odors. These filters come from the factory smelling like chemicals. So I threw them out and used the old ones. Even though they were old, no smell came through. So…lesson learned. Only buy genuine 3m 6001 filters.

Three coats later…

I rolled and tipped it, but it was hot in the tent and I was working solo so it’s not as smooth as I’d like. But since it’s only the first base coat, that’s fine.

The V-berth looks good, too

It was hot enough in the tent that the base coat was dry to the touch within five minutes or so. With three coats laid down, I left the stinky boat and went home.

Next day, sand again with Abranet 240

Abranet is a great product. Since it’s net instead of paper, the vacuum pulls almost all of the dust through. There’s very little flying dust or residue.

Ready for three more coats

This is a very different grain than the rest of the V-berth

Sanded, vacuumed, wiped down, and ready for more ICA

6 coats total

Looks good!

That’s a wrap

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The V-berth Headliner Install Begins