All but one aft stateroom headliner panel has been installed, and then I got all of the LEDs and the OEM light fixture installed. There’s just one more Whisper Wall panel to install in the ceiling, and then I can do some finishing touches to wrap it up.
The last Whisper Wall panel is almost done
The installer spritzes the panel with water, then uses tools that look like thick, rounded putty knives to push the fabric home into the track on one side. Next, he pulls it to the far side and pushes it home in that track before doing the other two sides. Then he comes back with a razor and trims the material that’s hanging free. I like this approach a lot better than the original headliner, with a solid line of staples all the way around that has to be covered with trim.
Trimming the last bit of headliner
Boom. Done.
I got busy wrapping up the hatch
Staples hold the fabric tight, then trim the excess
The installer knew there was a friction fit between the mahogany ring and the new varnished veneer. But for some reason he pulled the fabric up into the hatch tube and put a line of staples into the new veneer to hold it in place. So I had to pull all the staples before trimming the fabric.
That’s the idea
That looks pretty awesome
Reconditioned screen is ready to install
I replaced the screen and spline. When I had it all apart, I cleaned up the aluminum extrusions and applied metal wax to protect it.
You can tell where the screen tracks go by the corrosion
The V-berth hatch leaked but the aft one didn’t. White aluminum oxide powder is heaviest on four of the eight tracks, so those are for the V-berth.
It’s obvious, right?
Test fitting two screen tracks
That looks about right
Houston, we have a problem
The original metal trim ring was ~1/16″ thick. The mahogany ring is ~1/8″ heavy, so the screen frame is too high to smoothly pass it. I need to lower the tracks 1/8″ or so.
The solution: thin mahogany spacer strips with eight coats of varnish
Drill pilot holes in the mahogany strip with a Vix #3 to precisely center them
That works…and looks good, too
Getting closer
That’s better
Perfect!
All tracks installed
I thought I should show what the OEM hatch trim piece looked like. I’m sure the aluminum was nice when it was new, but even if it was shiny I think the mahogany looks a lot better.
And with that, the aft stateroom headliner installation is a wrap.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the V-berth Headliner Installation
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Dumb iPhone, should have said “not judgemental”.
Q, I’m genuinely curious and not judgements, how come you didn’t polish the aluminum trim?
You mean you think I didn’t polish it? You don’t know me very well. LOL
Seriously though, I mentioned in the article that I cleaned up the extrusions and waxed them. The problem is that they’re 50-year old anodized aluminum. It’s got pitting that can’t be polished out. Go through the process of sanding until it’s smooth, and you’re way past the anodizing and deep into plain aluminum. Re-anodizing can be done, but it can’t rebuild aluminum pit holes that aren’t there anymore because it turned to dust over the last half-century. Plus, the camera flash highlights things you can barely see with normal lighting.
Ideally, I’d replace the extrusion with new. But I haven’t seen any place that sells the same stuff. Plus, it looks fine in person with ambient lighting.
Judge away, Frederic! You’re keeping me honest! 😉
Cheers,
Q