The aft deck is coming along very nicely, albeit slowly.
I’ve also been busy working on our 1968 Chris Craft Commander 42, getting it ready to put on the market as part of the big transition from a two-Chris Craft family to just one. One of the big success stories there was to bypass the OEM starboard engine oil cooler, which was a big cast iron thing that bolted up to the oil pan, and install an aftermarket one. The OEM one was restricting water flow and, I suspect, not doing a very good job actually cooling the oil. The aftermarket one actually came on the Super SeaMaster twin turbo and intercooled 534ci monsters that were in this Roamer when we got it. With the new cooler installed, the difference in water flow out the exhaust and temperature stability even when running on plane is pretty amazing.
Another thing I’ve been thinking about since we got the Commander, and finally started working on recently, was bringing the old Kohler 6.5kv genset back to life. It didn’t run when we bought the boat, and by the looks of things it hadn’t run in decades–the hour meter only shows 290 on the clock. One of the two previous owners had removed the carburetor, linkage, water pump drive belt and pulleys, and other bits, but none of those parts came with the boat. I’ve been slowly accumulating the parts necessary to put it back together, though not exactly to original condition. The carburetor, for example, is a side draft unit from a later model Kohler; I believe the original was an up-draft version.
But I also wanted to convert it from open, raw water cooling to a closed cooling system with a heat exchanger and antifreeze. I understand open cooling systems on trailer boats, where they get drained at the end of the day once they’re back on the trailer. But I can’t fathom why anybody would want that in a boat that stays in the water all the time, especially if it’s salt or brackish. Anyway, I’m just waiting on a few small parts, then I’ll be ready to fire it up.
Back to the Roamer. While I was working on the transom mahogany panels, I also made the moldings for the transom threshold/step-through.
The transom step-through threshold could look better
Note that, in the picture above, the wood and white painted aluminum aren’t the same height. The wood sits below or to the side of the painted, 3/16″ thick aluminum. So to make a pretty molding that covers that joint/step, the underside of the molding will have to have a 3/16″ step to it as well. Keep that in mind as you read the rest.
Repurposing 50-year old OEM mahogany
I’m going to use this mahogany board that was originally one of the aft stateroom facia panels that Chris Craft painted white. I think my full-width, varnished mahogany ones look a lot better than the white originals did. I ran this one through the Dewalt thickness planer a few times to get rid of the white paint, but the serial number still remained.
Let the cutting begin!
Good initial fit
Route the ends to match the fillets on the transom
Nice!
Next, I marked off the curve of the plywood panel and cut off the excess.
ShopSmith bandsaw trims the curved edge to match the mahogany plywood
Oops
I had used my little Bosch router to remove excess material from the bottom side of this molding, where it will overlap the 3/16″ aluminum threshold. The next step was to round the top edge of the molding. But there was too little material left below for the guide roller to ride on. When the roller slipped past the edge (two inches from being finished!!!) the little Bosch very quickly turned this complex, nearly finished mahogany molding into scrap.
Deep breath…
Take-home lesson: leave the board thick while rounding an edge with a router bit that relies on a bearing guide, then remove the material from the underside.
So I made another molding…
Nice!
Great fit!
Bottom molding is done
Starboard molding is rough fitted
Little curved cuts on the bottom match the bottom molding
Port side molding is last
Nice!
Since these moldings are in a ‘rough service’ area, I decided to treat them as replaceable maintenance items. So instead of epoxying them permanently in place, I’ll use traditional screws, bungs, and caulk.
These are very complex pieces of mahogany
Done!
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Varnishing and Installing More Aft Deck Mahogany
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Thinking the same as Terry’s comment. You have all of your equipment in place and the process is fresh in your mind. Seems like making a couple of spares now would save you time and aggravation later! Great job as always!
Thanks Bob!
I hate when I ruin something after putting a lot of time into it.
Would it be better to make spares now while you have the process fresh in your mind?
That’s an interesting idea about making spares. Based on the lifespan of toe rails and other high-traffic wooden parts on other Chris Crafts I’ve owned, I suspect these will go 20~30 years before they might need replacement. I think I’ll leave that to the next captain.
Cheers,
Q