1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Bilge Pumps & Panda Exhaust Wrap-Up

Having functioning bilge pumps and no open holes in the hull were absolute must-do items on my pre-splash punch list. The only open hole left on the hull was the OEM genset exhaust outlet. I previously posted about installing the Panda genset waterlift muffler, gas/water separator, and siphon break, but I still had to install the hose from the Vetus gas/water separator to the OEM exhaust outlet.

1-1/2″ to 2″ 304 stainless adapter threaded onto the OEM exhaust standpipe

I used a wire brush on a drill to clean the inside of the pipe, which was bare aluminum. Then I coated it inside and out with Barr Rust 235 epoxy barrier coat. I also wire brushed the OEM threads before applying Gasoila thread sealant.

It’s a strange thing: Chris Craft took the time to cut NPT threads on all of their welded in thru-hull pipes here as well as the pipes welded through the bulkheads for the bilge pumps, but then they just installed the hoses directly onto the threaded part of the pipe using hose clamps. Water inevitably gets into the areas where the threads are and starts deteriorating the bare aluminum. Fortunately, there was plenty of thread left over once I’d cleaned up the white aluminum oxide powder.

2″ 304 stainless 45° elbow connects the standpipe adapter to a 1-1/2″ stainless hose barb

So that’s a wrap for the Panda generator exhaust. Next I recommissioned the bilge pumps.

I installed a bilge pump cycle counter in the salon electrical panel

I used to own a 1967 Chris Craft Constellation 52, which had a wooden hull. You can tell at a glance if something below the waterline is letting in more water than usual, so bilge pump counters are something I really appreciate.

Refurbishing an OEM-style automatic bilge pump switch

Most boats have electric float switches to control the bilge pumps in automatic mode. But for metal boats, it’s a better practice to not have electric switches in contact with bilge water. So Chris Craft installed remote diaphragm switches like this one, which uses air pressure to turn the switch on.

I clear coated the metal parts with enamel

You can see the 1/4″ barb where a hose gets attached. On the other end of the hose is a plastic bell that’s attached near the deepest part of the bilge compartment. When water rises, the air trapped in the bell and hose is forced up, which increases the pressure at the diaphragm until it triggers the switch. The modern equivalent of this system is the Jabsco Hydro Air bilge pump switch.

Assembled and ready for installation

The air bell

The barb on the bell measures exactly 0.250″ OD, but the 1/4″ hose I bought has a .255 ID. So I need to add a bit of girth to the barb.

Liquid Tape has many uses

Next day, the Liquid Tape has cured

I’ve found you have to be patient with Liquid Tape. There are no instructions on the bottle, just chemical warning boilerplate in several languages. I find it works best if I apply it, then leave the part alone until the following day. It makes a soft, rubber-like finished coating that adheres well to plastic, metal, etc.

Stainless safety wire tie acts as a hose clamp…just in case

The bell and hose are installed behind the 1/2″ PVC pipe bilge pump pickup next to the keel.

I attached the PVC bilge pipe to the OEM bulkhead fitting under the aft stateroom floor

Air hose from the bell is attached to the diaphragm pump inlet

In the engine room, I had to clean up the threads on the bulkhead thru-pipe

I cleaned up the bilge pump thru-hull threads, too

I applied Gasoila to the clean threads

I previously wire brushed and applied Barr Rust 235 epoxy to the inside of these thru-hulls.

3/4″ hose connects everything together

I threaded a 1/2″ NPT-to-hose barb 90° fitting to the bulkhead pipe, routed the 3/4″ hose from there to the diaphragm bilge pump, then from that pump up to the thru-hull, where I used a straight NPT-to-hose barb fitting. So that’s a wrap for the aft bilge pump.

Forward bilge pump is already installed under the galley, at the forward bulkhead

I tested both bilge pumps in manual and automatic mode, and they work great.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Transom Door Seal

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Swim Platform Rub Rail

After putting so much effort into making the swim platform pretty, I wanted to make sure it’s protected in the event that I botch the landing when backing into a slip. The original rub rail was rectangular anodized aluminum. It probably looked fine when it was brand new, but it was pretty worn out by the time we bought the boat for $1 in December of 2007. I decided to go with 1-1/4″ solid back stainless steel rub rails for this refit.

When we first got the boat, the swim platform was as rough as everything else

That’s pretty rough

The original rub rail wasn’t salvageable

That’s a good looking swim platform

The factory polish on stainless rub rail isn’t bad, but it could be improved

The 316 stainless screw heads could use a bit of polishing, too

Super shiny rub rails are ready to install

I taped off the teak with 1/2″ straight line tape

I drilled the screw holes using a Vix bit to center the holes, then temporarily installed the port rail

I then taped off the rail

I then applied Sikaflex 291 LOT (long Open Time) mahogany-colored caulk

After squeegeeing off the caulk that squeezed out, I pulled the tape

I repeated that process for the other pieces of rail.

NICE!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Bilge Pumps & Panda Exhaust Wrap-Up

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing GROCO Hull Strainers

I’ve got a lot more things done on the boat than I’ve posted to this blog, so I’ll try to get caught up and post more.

One of the major must-do items on my pre-launch punch list was to weld in the new main engine raw water intakes. I’ve got 2″ Buck Algonquin 70RWS200 stainless steel strainers in the engine room, but I want scoop strainers on the bottom. GROCO ASC-AL hull strainers are what I went with. I considered welding them to the bottom, which is how Chris Craft did it. But welding them on means there are spots on the hull that have no barrier coat or bottom paint. The boat does have an impressed current cathodic protection system (CAPAC) installed, but I’d rather not have bare aluminum exposed to salt water. Fortunately, Groco makes these so they can be installed with screws, too.

Groco ASC-AL hull strainers

I coated the scoops inside and out with Barr Rust 235 epoxy barrier coat, then topped that with the Pettit VIVID I had left over from repainting the bottom.

Drilling and tapping holes in the hull

Well…that sucks

A brand new tap snapped off clean just a few turns into the hole.

30 minutes later, I got the broken tap out of the hole

Vix hinge bit perfectly centers the drill in the holes

All the holes are drilled

I’m using 316 stainless screws, so each hole got a dollop of Tef-Gel

Next, I taped off the area…

…and applied Sikka 291 LOT caulk

Good squeeze out

I like the fact that I can pull the pin and open the little access hatch on the back of the scoop. That makes it easy to keep the inside of the standpipe clean.

Repeat the process on the opposite side

Done

That’s a wrap for my below-the-waterline punch list.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Swim Platform Rub Rail

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Season of Do-Overs…Aft Deck Glass 2.0

The Season of Do-Overs is my least favorite season. On a project this big, the last thing I want is to have to re-do things I already checked off the honey-do list. A recent example of that is the fuel manifold that developed leaks.

But the Season of Do-Overs actually began last fall, when I noticed something wasn’t right with the aft deck windows. The caulk didn’t look right in a spot. So I went outside and pushed on the glass in that area…and it moved. So I went around to all of the aft deck windows and found that the Boat Life polysulfide had lost the bond to either the glass or the paint (mostly the latter) on little sections of every one of them.

A tedious task

I’d push on the glass where the bond was lost, insert a putty knife, followed by wooden wedge and then work the wedges around the pane. While I didn’t enjoy doing this, the Boat Life bond was so weak that each one came out surprisingly easily.

There was a good bond to the glass, and good contact with the paint

I have no idea why this caulk didn’t bond to the paint, but that was the last time I’ll ever buy Boat Life for anything.

A bit of Boat Life residue stuck to the window frame

But it peels off clean

After consulting with the guys over at Weaver Boatworks, I learned that they only use Bostik 70-08A windshield adhesive for their multi-million dollar sportfishermen glass. It’s hard to find and not cheap–I paid $18/tube–but if it keeps the glass sealed in place, it’s a bargain.

I have two and a half tubes leftover if anybody’s interested. Ping me in the comments.

The good stuff for glass

Glass installation prep materials

I used lacquer thinner on a rag to remove the Boat Life residue from the glass and each window frame, then repeated with alcohol, and wrapped up with vinegar. Each one is a very good solvent for particular types of residue, and by the time I dry-wiped the surfaces after the vinegar treatment, there was no residue of any kind.

I strategically placed foam block spacers around the window frames

Next, I applied a heavy bead to the perimeter of the glass

The pros at Weaver said it’s best to apply a thick bead around the perimeter, and only press it into the frame a bit. This Bostik product can reportedly stretch up to double whatever thickness it’s applied at without losing adhesion or coming apart. So my target was ~1/8″ thickness when the glass was pressed to the frames.

The view from the inside

As you can see, the caulk doesn’t go all the way up to the edge of the window frame. This was one of the tricks the Weaver guys told me: Step 1 is to get the caulk thickness to no less than 1/8″.

1/8″ gap between the glass and frame

Step 2: apply tape to the window frame and exterior glass perimeter and get ready to back-fill the Bostik.

Swap out the Bostik nozzle for one with a fine tip

The Bostik nozzle is designed for laying down thick beads. So I used a spare Lexel caulk nozzle that I cut so the hole is just under 1/8″ for the backfill.

Step 3, Back fill the gap with Bostik

Back-fill is done

Step 4: While wearing nitrile gloves, wet a fingertip with alcohol and smooth off the Bostik caulk. Keep the fingertip wet as you work around the glass. Then, pull the tape up and away from the caulk.

Incidentally, Bostik cleans up with alcohol, not mineral spirits like most other caulks.

The alcohol and nitrile glove treatment leaves a shiny, smooth surface

Back-filled caulk viewed from the inside

I repeated the process on all of the aft deck windows.

Port helm door is ready for exposure to the elements

I like the look of the tinted windows against Matterhorn White

Can’t wait to see it on the water.

It’s now June of the following year, and the Bostik product is still well bonded to the glass and paint.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing GROCO Hull Strainers

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Deck Helm Doors

BIG NEWS! My pre-splash honey-do list of things that absolutely had to be finished to splash the boat is officially done. I also brought my remaining stash of mahogany lumber, ShopSmith, and table saw home, and removed all electrical lines inside the tent that powered the woodshop. I also removed the compressor piping and hoses, and prepared the refrigerated air drier for transport. I’m cleaning out the tent in preparation for disassembly next week.

The ‘must-do’ punch list is FINALLY  blacked out!

No more mahogany lumber or table saw

ShopSmith is gone

Cleaned out a bunch of garbage cluttering up Tent Modell XXX

$25 worth of wasted AlexSeal filler

The Boatamalans sure were a wasteful bunch. I found hundreds of dollars worth of wasted materials that they dropped off the scaffolding and didn’t retrieve: rolls of plastic masking film, rolls of masking tape, boxes of razor blades, numerous buckets containing a quart or more of hardened primer and paint, etc. Never again.

Anyway, I’m still on schedule for probable splash next week. But over the winter and spring I was very busy getting the helm sliding doors installed.

The doors were primed at the tent and finally ready for paint

I took them over to Weaver Boatworks so the doors could be painted in their spray booth. It was late November 2022 and too cold to even think about painting them in the tent.

Back from the paint shop, I started installing hardware

It was very difficult finding hardware that worked in 1″ thick doors

I found these at The Brass Works.

Epoxy stir sticks make good squeegees for removing excess caulk

Off with the tape, and final wipe with mineral spirits

Nice!

Bottom linear motion slider assemblies are ready to install

Close-up of the PBC Linear track, slider car, and stainless door bracket

Drilling and tapping the holes for the slider track

I’m using stainless screws in aluminum, so every hole gets Tef Gel

Port track is installed

Looks good

Nice!

Port helm door is installed

Starboard is next

Nice!

Boom…done

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Season of Do-Overs…Aft Deck Glass 2.0

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Helm Doors III

Good news!

The surveyor came by today and was very impressed with what he saw. He doesn’t expect the insurance company will have any demands before I splash the boat. He thinks he can have the updated survey report back to me by next Wednesday. I’ll immediately send it to the insurance company, so hopefully by Friday I’ll know if they approve of getting the bottom wet. I tentatively plan to start dismantling the tent on Thursday. Might have the boat back in the water for the weekend!

The missus did a great job cleaning in preparation for the surveyor

That’s a good looking dashboard

I keep most of the interior mahogany covered with cardboard and a moving blanket is usually draped over the helm, so not even I know what the boat looks like under all that protective covering and dust. This may be the first time I’ve seen the whole area cleaned up!

Diaper report from the fuel manifold: no diesel leaks!

So, that’s the good news. But now, I have a tale of woe from last fall, when I was furiously trying to get the boat ready to be splashed. I discovered a huge problem with the aft deck entry sliding doors: the doors are rectangular, which is perfectly common, but the door frames are not. The side decks on all old Chris Craft motoryachts are angled down from the bow to the transom, so water will run off. But the aft deck hardtop is basically parallel to the waterline. So the distance from the bottom of the helm door openings to the top is shorter at the leading edge than the aft. That’s not a good situation for a sliding door, where the top and bottom of the door frames are usually parallel.

When I tore out the original teak side deck and had it replaced with aluminum plate, the fabricator welded the 2″ square aluminum tube that would become the lower door frame at the same angle as the deck.

2″ square tube is at the same angle as the deck

When we were painting the aft enclosure in 2013, it didn’t even occur to me that the door opening wasn’t configured right. If only I had a time machine…

When I tried to install the linear tracks for the helm doors in late 2022, with the door closed there was 1/8″ gap from the top of the leading edge of the door to the upper guide track…perfect. But at the trailing edge, the gap between the door top and upper guide track was 1/2″! And when I slid the door open, the leading edge door top had that same 1/2″ gap, but the gap at the trailing edge of the door was 1-1/4″!

Those two surfaces need to be parallel or sliding doors won’t work. What a mess.

My first “solution” to the problem was a mahogany threshold

Thicker at the back, thin at the front

After making the threshold, though, I realized it wouldn’t work. The leading edge of the door fits in the pocket at the leading edge of the frame nicely when it’s sitting on the 2″ square aluminum tube. But with the mahogany threshold in place, it jacks up the trailing edge of the door, which opens a big gap between the lower leading edge of the door and the pocket that the leading edge slides into. So the bottom will need to stay as-is. The hardtop will have to be modified so it’s parallel with that 2″ aluminum square tube on the bottom.

It was around this time that the Boatamalan painter was doing crack repairs around the hull. Since he was on the lookout for cracks, he spotted several on the underside of the hardtop where it overhangs the side door entries. In other words, there were fairly big gelcoat cracks that needed to be repaired in the vicinity of the sliding door problem I was having. So we went for broke and got ‘er done.

I epoxy glued and screwed big pieces of tapered mahogany to the hardtop on both sides

Really wish I’d thought of this in 2013…

Fiberglassed then faired with Awlfair

The Boatamalan took over with crack repair and fairing

The last of the cracks were dug out

More Awlfair

After sanding the fairing smooth, we tented the area and sprayed Awlquik medium build surfacer.

After sanding the Awlquik, we re-tented the area and sprayed Awlgrip 545 primer

A dusting of black paint for a guide coat

After sanding the 545 with 320 grit, we re-tented the area again and the Boatamalan sprayed the Awlcraft 2000 Matterhorn White topcoat. The next morning, I arrived at 6am to find…

SHINY!

After pulling all the tape and plastic, the repair areas looked great!

With the upper and lower door frames now parallel, I was finally able to install the doors. But what a mess that was! To any other bonehead who takes on a project like this, pay very close attention to your future door openings early in the project!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Deck Helm Doors

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Missus’s Custom V-berth Mattress

Bad news: the surveyor never showed up.

I got to the marina at 6am and set about cleaning up. I emailed the surveyor to confirm today was the day, but 9am turned to 10, then 11am, and I got no response. Finally, around noon I got a text from the surveyor. He’s in the hospital with congestive heart failure. The docs think a change in medication will help. Over the course of the afternoon, we worked out a path forward where I provide him with a list of everything I’ve done since his original survey in 2019, and an accredited associate of his will walk through the boat on Wednesday and confirm it all.

So, the goddess of the seas is apparently still messing with me and my Roamer. We might still splash this week.

That said, I mentioned previously that it’ll be handy to have a place to sleep aboard while I’m getting the boat prepped for its first voyage from Deale MD to the marina closest to my house. Over the 2022 winter, I suggested to the missus that the V-berth is in need of a mattress, and she enthusiastically took charge of that mission.

Step One: make a mattress cover that fits the goofy V-berth bunk

This bunk is for a single person, and it fits me just fine. It also fits the missus just fine. But it definitely won’t accommodate us both at the same time. Think of it as the place the loser of an argument gets to sleep while the winner gets the (future) aft cabin queen-size mattress.

Nice fit

8″ memory foam mattress at Costco was a bargain

It’s amazing how compact these foam mattresses are out of the box

The mattress comes with a cover, but the missus initially didn’t plan to use it.

Next day, the mattress was fully expanded

You can tell this was a project the missus was leading because she was the one who told me to put the mattress on the dining room table.

Lay out the cut lines with a fat Sharpie to match the missus’s mattress cover

I bought an electric bread knife specifically to cut this mattress and future cushions.

It took two passes with the bread knife before the first cut was done

Nice!

Laying out the next cut

We used the cut off scrap to make the opposite side corner. We’ll use contact cement to hold them together.

Kinda like that

After gluing the mattress parts together, we wrestled it into the cover the missus made

It was very difficult to get the foam mattress into her cover. It was as if the foam was grabbing ahold of the cover material and wouldn’t slide into place. But before cutting the mattress, we had noticed it was very easy to put the mattress back into its original cover. The foam didn’t stick to it. So the missus decided to convert the original mattress cover from a boring rectangle to the goofy shape of our V-berth bunk. Then we’d put the covered mattress into the missus’s custom one.

Dr. Frankenstein’s mattress cover

I am in awe of my wife’s sewing skills

Zipper on the bottom side

With the FrankenCover on, the mattress slid much easier into the missus’s custom cover. I took it to the boat today…fit like a glove.

That turned out really nice!

It’s very comfortable, too

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Helm Doors III

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fixing Fuel Supply Manifold Leaks

I really hoped when I built and installed the fuel supply manifold in November 2022 that it would be a ‘one ‘n done’ deal. I’ve used plenty of pipe fittings without problems over the years, so I was confident in my abilities. What I didn’t foresee was the poor quality of the threads cut in some of the 304 stainless Tees, street elbows, and hex nipples I bought on ebay to make the manifold. They were all made in China. I used a highly recommended thread sealant (Gasoila Soft Set), but I ultimately ended up with five joints that leaked. Oddly enough, none of the joints for the stainless valves (also made in China, bought on ebay) leaked.

As much as I dreaded taking the manifold back home and re-doing it, there really wasn’t any other option.

Back on the bench

I only disassembled the joints that failed. Instead of using Gasoila, I picked up a tube of Loctite 567, which several pipe fitting professionals said is the only thing that works consistently on stainless fittings. After putting it all back together, I decided I didn’t like some of my earlier supply and return line tubing work and needed to re-do it.

Not my proudest moment…

As I described when I made the fuel return lines, the engine room floorboard support angle is very close to where I installed the Swagelok bulkhead tubing fittings. The best spot for the fuel return manifold was also very close to the same longitudinal aluminum angle piece. So I looped the tubing under the angle with two 90° bends, followed by another 90° bend to align it with the bulkhead fitting.

Each 90° bend adds the equivalent friction of ~15′ worth of straight tubing. So that one 9″ return line tube had the equivalent of 45′ of friction. Plus, I kinked the tube a bit in a couple of spots, which only added more internal friction. What can I say? I’m just a weekend warrior and that was my first attempt at a solution to a tough problem in tight quarters.

After staring at that tube for a while, I figured there was a way to make the connection with a single 90° and another 45° bend.

That’s a lot more elegant

That’s much cleaner

The huge hole in the bulkhead was for HVAC ducting the previous owner had installed. In retrospect, I probably should have welded a plate in there, though it’s not mission critical…just unsightly.

I next re-installed the manifold and filters

I used the fuel primer bulb to pull fuel from the tanks and fill the system, then closed all the valves and strategically placed absorbent pads.

Everybody keep your fingers crossed!

Hopefully, they’ll still be pristine white tomorrow when I go back to the boat for the survey. White diaper means no fuel leaks. Presuming the boat passes the survey, I need to get my insurance company to authorize the splash. If they do, I’m going to want a place to sleep aboard while I’m getting it ready for the trip to the marina closest to my home.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Missus’s Custom V-berth Mattress

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fuel System Fixes

When I first attempted to start my Cummins 6CTAs in November 2022, both engines seemed like they wanted to run, but something was off. One of the problems I discovered immediately was a leak in the fuel return line on the starboard engine’s injection pump. Another problem I noticed while priming the system was that the on-engine mechanical lift pump on the same side was leaking fuel. If the lift pump leaks fuel under pressure when I manually pump it, it may also be pulling air into the fuel supply on the vacuum stroke. That could contribute to the engine not lighting off.

Cracked fuel return line leaks

The return line is attached to the front of the injection pump

Surprise!

I used a cutoff wheel to cut the fuel line behind the bracket that attaches to the front of the pump, which I also thought I’d have to cut to remove the line. But the bracket was broken and the line fell off when I finished cutting through it.

I planned to reuse the flare fitting

Unfortunately, my tube flaring tools don’t fit in the available space

I don’t want to start taking the injection pump apart to make space for my flaring tool. Even if I cut back the tube so it aligns with the flare bar, there’s not enough room for the yoke.

This injection pump wasn’t designed with easy maintenance in mind

The red arrow points to the broken bracket, which is secured to the pump with a bolt. There’s 1/4″ between that bolt and the gear drive housing on the front of the engine; I would have to pull the pump to access it, which would be a massive chore.

You can also see the banjo fitting where the return line attaches to the pump. The nut for that is ~1/8″ from the intake manifold. So, again, there’s no way to remove it without removing the injection pump. I can loosen the banjo nut, though, which allows me to rotate the return line just a bit. And that gave me an idea…

Swagelok fitting to the rescue!

I used a 5/16″ tube to 3/8″ MPT Swagelok adapter to connect the tube to a stainless 3/8″ elbow, and a 3/8″ MPT to 3/8″ flare adapter for the hose connection.

Nice!

I rotated the return line up until the Swagelok fitting came in contact with the injection pump, then used a stainless hose clamp to lock the two together to make a more rigid assembly. Then I attached the hose to complete the repair.

Next, I got a new lift pump. I thought about ordering two pumps just to have a spare, but only got the one. That would turn out to be a mistake, but more on that in a future post. The new pump housing was bare aluminum, so I decided to prime and paint it before installation.

I brushed self-etching primer on the new fuel pump

First coat of brushed on gloss white looks good

I’ve had an unopened gallon of Blue Water Mega Bright White one-part polyurethane paint for longer than I’ve owned this Roamer. It was leftover from the last repaint I did on my 1967 Chris Craft Constellation 52. One-part polyurethanes don’t hold their shine like AwlGrip, but for the engine room this is fine. I thought it might have hardened over time, but after opening the can and thoroughly mixing the paint, it was like new.

Two coats of white was plenty

Easy installation…ready to test fire again

I was preparing to prime the system again when I noticed wet spots on the diaper I placed under the fuel manifold I installed in August 2022. So rather than fill the system with fuel again, I decided to pull the manifold and see if I could stop those leaks.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fixing Fuel Supply Manifold Leaks

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Engine Runs!

I’ve been super busy with other things and haven’t had time to post updates here. I hope to get back into regular posting before long.

Despite the lack of posts here, I have been making progress on the refit. If things go as planned, I’ll begin dismantling Tent Model XXX the first week of June 2023 and splash the boat once I get the green light from my surveyor and insurance company. I’ve decided to keep the boat in a slip at the current marina for a month and will be making sure all necessary systems are 100% before taking off and heading to the marina closest to my home. It’ll be a 15 minute hop on country roads to go mess with the boat instead of the hour+ slog in awful Swamp-zone traffic that I’ve been doing since 2012.

Anyway, I posted my first attempt at getting the engines running last fall. The big news for today is that I recently resolved some problems I was having with the starboard engine, which I’ll cover in a future post, and got it running. It was 52°F overnight, so the engine room was cool when I first tried to start it. I installed oil pan heaters years ago but haven’t been using them, so the engine was at ambient temp. After two attempts cranking the starter for 10 seconds, it lit off on the third try but had a loping idle. The video below was the fourth start, and it jumped to life. Idle is rock-solid and the throttle behaves as it should.

Click “Cancel” after the video ends, or it will autoplay whatever video Rumble is promoting.

Stay tuned! I’ll post more (hopefully) soon.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fuel System Fixes