1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Safety Rails

While the cracks in the galley window openings were being repaired, I was staring at another issue that came up that needs to be resolved before the headliner can be installed  in the salon: the safety rails on the cabin top. Some of the attachment points and fasteners are up in the ceiling, so they’ll have to be in place when the headliner goes in.

First, I drilled through the OEM bolt holes in the salon ceiling frames

I have to admit it was a bit nerve-wracking thinking about drilling holes in my [sort of] new paint job.

Next, I measured to see how much safety rail I’d need

9′ x 2 = 18 feet, so I need a 20′ stick of 7/8″ marine stainless safety rail

Measure twice, cut once

Harbor Freight metal-cutting bandsaw was a great investment

This end piece goes somewhere around here

Putting the fitting on the far end of the tubing reveals the exact attachment spot

The fixture makes a good drill guide

That chrome is kind of yellow

I’ve had those OEM bronze pieces wrapped in tissue and sitting in a box at my house since I got them back from Metro Plating in DC waaaay back in 2009. It kind of looks to me like they polished through the chrome and into the nickel plating below. I’m not at all impressed with their work and may send this off to Hanlon Plating, which did a good job on my nautical themed ashtray and other precious bits a couple years ago.

Looks good

Repeat on the starboard side

Final cut on the handrail

And now for the trouble:

The OEM safety rail bolts aren’t long enough

I’ve got many examples of the original 1/4-20 and 5/16-18 oval head chromed bronze machine screws that go through the salon ceiling frames and OEM fiberglass cabintop to thread into the safety rail guides and ends, as well as the big hunk of chromed bronze that makes up the mast base.

But…

I decided to use Whisper Wall headliner, and the tracks for it put the fabric 1/2″ proud of the original ceiling frames. That’s why I had to do all that work making light mounting panels that were 1/2″ higher than they would have been with an original-style headliner that staples directly to the frames. Add to that the additional thickness of the kevlar and fiberglass “bullet-proof cabin top,” and the bolts are all too short. You could see the problem in the first picture at the top of this article. Only 1-1/2 threads stick up clear of the cabin top, and that’s without a washer in place, which drops the threaded part down even lower in the hole from the topside.

I’ve looked everywhere for replacement hardware. I found 1/4-20 stainless screws at McMaster-Carr that are long enough (5-3/4″, so 6″ works) and can be polished to look like chrome, but they don’t have 5/16-18 that are long enough (5-1/2″,  so 3″ won’t do). Fastenal came closer, but 5″ isn’t long enough when you need 5-1/2″. A buddy recommended Buck Algonquin, and it turns out they’ve got bronze strut bolts in 5/16-18 x 5-1/2″ long…but they’re slotted, not Phillips or Reed Prince, like the originals, and they’d need to be chromed, which would add to the cost.

I considered using stainless all-thread, which is readily available and cheap. Acorn nuts would be easy and cheap but not very attractive. Since these machine screw heads go through the headliner and will be very visible, attractive is a factor.  I have ideas for making custom oval head nuts that would be attractive, but neither easy nor cheap. Attractive stainless machine screws that are long enough can be ordered at a good price per unit, but you have to buy a minimum of 700, which isn’t cheap since I only need five. Which leaves me with this thought: how about taking the fasteners I’ve got and cutting off bits and pieces and welding them onto the existing chromed bronze bolts, extending their length as needed? It’s not a pretty solution, but I think it’d work.

If anybody knows where to get 5-1/2″ stainless oval head Phillips machine screws, please let me know in the comments.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Spacers for the Safety Rail Bolts in the Salon