1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the propeller shafts

This one’s been a long time coming.

For the second time on this refit, I’ve installed brand new cutlass bearings and put the shafts in. The first time around, back in 2009, I was still using the original 1.5 inch Aquamet 17 shafts, which seemed more than adequate for the 120hp Lehman diesels I installed on the first go-round. Since we decided in 2012 to run with Cummins 450 Diamonds instead, we cut off the old strut barrels and welded on new ones last fall that are sized for the new 1.75″ Aquamet 22 shafts. I had to resize the phenolic bearing housings just a bit because the heat of welding moved two of the strut barrels around just a bit. Removing just a wee bit of the phenolic bearing housing allows the bearing to move around inside the strut barrel, which allows them to self-align when the shafts get slid into place. Epoxy fills the interstitial space between the phenolic bearing and aluminum strut barrel, which “float aligns” the bearings and locks them in place in perfect alignment.

Brand new shafting off to the machine shop

Cutlass bearing fits in the strut barrel but is still a bit too tight for float alignment

Shopsmith 12″ disc sander helps ensure consistent material removal

Black marks indicate tight spots…back to the Shopsmith sander.

Nice fit…just enough gap for a good epoxy bond and flexibility for alignment purposes

Stern tube bearing looks good

Dry-fitting the shafts

Dry fitting the shafts was a good idea, just to verify that the bearings all had enough clearance from the strut barrels to self-align. But I gotta tell ya…those one-piece shafts are heavy! After dry fitting, the shafts and bearings came out (after I marked the bearing orientation) and I mixed up the epoxy potting compound.

Cutlass bearings float aligned in thickened West System epoxy

First, I treated the aluminum with Alumiprep and Alodine, scrubbed in with a stainless brush. After the metal dried, I mixed up some West System epoxy and thickened it with their 422 barrier coat additive (which basically looks like aluminum powder). After coating the inside of the strut barrel and phenolic bearing housing, I slid the bearings home. Then, just to be sure of good coverage, I used a syringe to inject potting material in via the 1/4-20 set screw holes on either side of the strut barrel.

Bearings float aligned and struts get barrier coated little by little

“Hot coating” Devoe Coatings barrier coat over West System

Good bearing clearance all the way around

I’ll smooth out the barrier coat later, and then apply one or two final coats of Devoe, followed with Pettit Vivid bottom paint.

The float alignment process worked well. A week has passed and with the epoxy fully set I can easily rotate the shafts with one hand. Now that the shafts are in, I need to obtain and install propellers so I know exactly where the gear coupler will need to be. Once I know that, I can move the engines back and install them on the engine beds I started building a month or so ago.

But until the props show up, there’s plenty of other things to do.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Classic Chrome Bits & Pieces

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Organizing the Electrical System

Dust, dust everywhere.

Way back in 2008, we sandblasted the hull inside and out. Cleaning up the big piles of sand afterwards was one big job. Little did I know that five years and dozens of times working the shop vac later, we’d still be finding sandblasting residue! Well, that and all of the dust from grinding the gelcoat off the cabin top and then the fairing compound and primer when we made it nice and straight in preparation for paint. One of the places that was harboring the most dust was the original wiring, much of which I left intact. Note to self: when you leave bundles of wires in place during sandblasting and sanding operations, every wire in the bundle will be coated with as much dust as gravity can pile on top. Bump any of those coated wires though, and the dust will fall straight down into your eyes.

Why is it always the eyes???

Anyway, while the layout of the boat will change quite a bit when I build the interior, the basic layout of the electrical system won’t change all that much. The main panel will get replaced, but it’ll still be in the salon cabinet where Chris Craft put them. There will still be heavy gauge wire going to the genset, which is in the same location as the original, as well as 120vac and 12vdc lines going forward and aft to service the two staterooms. Only their outlet locations will change. And since the boat wasn’t on the water for very long before being hauled on the hard and forgotten about circa 1985, the original wiring is in surprisingly good condition. I’ll cut the ends back a bit, but the copper is still bright in the sheathing.

But first, I need to clean all the wires, replace all the looms and generally get the system organized.

Tangled mess ‘o wires

I was very careful to mark each wire and loom when we first tore the boat apart back in 2008. Unfortunately, I marked the wires by making a tag out of blue masking tape and writing on it with a fine-point Sharpie. Over time most of the tape vanished, and the tape that remained no longer had any distinguishing marks from the Sharpie. I guess “permanent marker” only applies if the surface you write on stays in place and intact…

Slowly getting untangled

I carefully pulled each wire out of the looms and wire conduits, then wiped them down to remove dust. My coveralls, respirator and eye protection sure got a good workout! This also allowed me to trace each wire back to the main panels and buses. Now I pretty much know where each one goes.

New wire loom from Del City Supply

Out with the old…

Dust-free wiring up and out of the way

95% dust free

Fortunately, old boats aren’t very electrically complicated

It’s probably not a rare skill, but I have pretty much memorized the wiring on the boat. That should be good for winning drinks at any Chris Craft raft up. “Circuit #22? Oh, yeah, that’s the nav lights.”

Sharpies mark the wires wherever possible

Hopefully, this will be a more permanent marking system than the tape was.

Panda genset wiring looks tangled…but it’s an organized tangle.

With the wiring sort of out of the way, it’s time to get moving on the engine install. For that to happen, some very long pieces of stainless steel round bar–Aquamet 22, to be precise–need to find their way onto the boat.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the propeller shafts.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Setting Up Shop

We got slammed by still more snow in mid-March and again the last weekend before April, which meant the water table that’s been right at the surface of the gravel under the boat all winter wouldn’t be going away any time soon. And that means I don’t have my prop shafts installed yet. Which means I haven’t relocated the engines or installed the engine beds. Sometimes I don’t even know why I try to keep a schedule.

But there’s lots of stuff to do on the inside, like finishing up the aft stateroom sub-floors I installed in March. But I also need to get ready to start making sawdust, because once the engines are installed, the steering and rudders are working, and the trim tabs are back where they’re supposed to be, I’m going to be all over the interior…once I install the bloody helm windshield.

Piece of cake.

I’ve also grown tired of kicking up a cloud of fairing compound dust every time I touch certain things inside the boat that haven’t moved much since we were longboarding, priming and painting the exterior. So I cleaned up the salon, put some big pieces of mahogany trim temporarily back where they came from to get them out of the way, and set up my EZ-One Woodworking Center.

The aft stateroom floors were roughed in

The floors were there, but they were only supported on the ends so the boards were pretty bouncy. I needed to cut some longitudinal supports. But first, I had to clean up and organize the aft stateroom and salon.

Organized aft stateroom

All of the 1×1 solid mahogany we recycled during the demolition phase is on the left, with bigger planks on the right.

Hose clamp collection is organized and (finally) under control

Salon floor is almost fully visible!

Next, I finished setting up my EZ-One Woodworking Center, which is basically an all-in-one table saw, panel saw, router table, and work bench.

Use an engineer’s square to square the table

There was a few thousandths of an inch gap at the top of the square, so I loosened all of the bolts while checking the four corners. Once it was perfectly square, I tightened the bolts and locked it into position.

Fully assembled EZ-One

I decided to buy an EZ-One because I will be cutting lots of expensive plywood panels when I do the interior, and there just isn’t room in the boat for a table saw, panel saw, and other equipment needed to do the job. The EZ-One has a relatively small footprint. It’s lightweight. And using the EZ track system to guide my circular saw, I can cut 4×8 sheets of plywood lengthwise with cabinetmaker’s precision without having to sand to a line. Used properly, this baby can cut perfectly to a line over the length of any panel I’ll be working with. I’ve been using the tracks for a while and am comfortable with the system, but I need to get some practice time in on the table before I start cutting up panels of mahogany plywood for cabinets, walls, and bulkheads.

Plenty of storage on the shelf and also on the aluminum extrusion frames of the EZ-One

I’ve got extra clamps, stops, etc for the EZ-One, and they all store very nicely in the frame extrusions. I’ve also got spare tracks on the shelf of the table. You can attach multiple tracks lengthwise for ripping longer panels.

More repeater stops and other attachments

It’s always something…

With the EZ-One set up I was ready to start cutting longitudinal support panels for the aft stateroom floors. But when I put on my hearing protection the headband snapped!

Rough cut longitudinal panel needs some trimming

The panel fits fine under the new aft stateroom floor everywhere but along the bottom, where it’s too tall between the notch and the leading edge. I need to knock off the angle cut. Of course, this sort of work doesn’t require precision to the thousandth of an inch, but I think it’s good for me to practice with the new equipment as much as possible. The track is installed so as to make “the bridge” of the EZ-One table. All you do is raise the bridge, slide the panel under, lower the bridge, align the track to the cut line, and start cutting.

Line up the track on the front…

…and on the back…

Ready to make the cut

Et voila!

With the EZ-One table set up and the boat interior organized, it just got a lot easier to cut and install panels. Now the only longstanding tripping hazard I need to deal with is all of the original wiring that’s strewn about.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Organizing the Electrical System.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Cabin Floors

Winter 2014 has been brutalizing my schedule.

But with the Chris Craft Roamer Cruise Control trim tab patterns off to the fabricator and me not being in the mood to mess with the hateful helm windshield frames just yet, I started putting floors on either side of the center-line fuel tank in the aft cabin. I’m sick of walking on the framing and hull, and it’s a bit of a hazard. Plus, there’s nothing that gets done quicker and with more apparent signs of progress than interior work. Unlike the evil helm windshield that’s been dry fitted a dozen times or more over the winter but still isn’t done, plywood that’s cut, fitted and ready for sealer is undeniably [almost] done. Like many things on this job, though, the floors weren’t easy.

Yet another 6″ dump of snow

On the one hand, I’m very happy that Tent Model X is holding up so well to all of the storms we’ve had this year.

On the other hand, enough with all of the freakin’ snow storms and subfreezing temps, eh! It’s almost April already!

The fundamental problem: 11° deadrise is excellent in rough seas but complicates flat floors

1969 Roamer 46s came with “Ozzy & Harriet” bunks on either side of the aft cabin, with fuel tanks underneath that sat on 6061 aluminum extrusions that were welded onto the hull framing. You can see the original configuration of the aft cabin in the Refit Begins article for this boat. By building new fuel tanks and moving them centerline, we’ll be able to have a queen-size bed in the captain’s quarters. But the hull framing comes up at an angle to match the deadrise of the hull, making it impossible to have the floors on either side of the bed the same level as the rest of the cabin. Angled floors were out of the question and I do not want to cut into the framing, so instead we’ll have a step up.

First, cut out a section of the 6061 angle that supported the old tank

One really neat thing about aluminum is that it can be cut with carbide bladed woodworking tools. My beater Skil circular saw and Harbor Freight Sawzall ripped through this in no time. Then I used the Skil saw to cut parallel to the frame plating to remove the remaining weldment. The carbide teeth last lots longer than grinding disks.

Reused angle will support the leading edge of the floor

I’ll need to make longitudinal supports for the floor panels, too, but I’ll hold off on that until I have a “welding day” since I’ll use 6061 angle for the the additional framing.

Eureka Zone track saw system makes nice, straight cuts on the sub-floor panels

This track saw is far better than any table saw I’ve ever used, and is so much lighter than lugging around a portable table saw.

Floor section dry fit

It’s amazing how just a little thing like a floor where before there was framing and the hull can make the day seem productive.

Test fitting the step up

I’m going to route out the underside of the step up floor panel so it fits lower over the frame members. This should drop the level of the sub-floor ~1″ or so and yield 6′ 1″  overall height. The hull framing protrudes on the outboard side of the sub-floor, but it will eventually be hidden behind drawers and other cabinetry.

Interior Concept drawings show cabinetry will hide the protruding frames

I may have to adjust the height or orientation of the drawers when I build out the aft stateroom cabinetry, but that will be a relatively simple thing for another day.

Applying the lessons learned on the stbd side

It took far longer than I anticipated getting the floor level on the starboard side. So on the port side I first cut the aluminum extrusions to get them out of the way and then clamped in temporary braces to support the aft end of the floor panel that were level both laterally and longitudinally. Normally, you wouldn’t use a level on a boat (especially one that was floating), but over the long winter I leveled the Roamer in preparation for just this sort of interior work.

Rough cuts with a long sawsall blade to fit over the frames

Nice fit aft

I made sure there was adequate room to access the rudder spud nut with a long wrench.

Et voila!

None of the floor pieces aft are screwed down yet. I plan to follow Chris Craft’s old paint schedule and coat all six sides of each panel before I do the final assembly and screw everything down. Between now and then, I also need to install the fuel and steering hydraulic lines…don’t want to get ahead of myself.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: New Bits & Pieces Back From the Fabricator

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Disassembling the Bow Hatch

Consistent with the theme of getting the boat ready for splashing later this year, I dug into the original, cast aluminum bow deck hatch to get it ready for paint. These hatches, which were were used on Chris Craft Cruisers from the 1960s and ’70s and manufactured by Bomar, I believe, have a shape that’s reminiscent of hood scoops used on muscle cars of the same era. I could have gone with a new hatch, but I like the period-correct parts. But like the original portlights and other old boat parts I’m keeping through this refit, this hatch was a real piece of work to get apart.

Your basic 1969 Chris Craft bow deck hatch

About half of the screws came out willingly, but only after weeks of applying penetrating oil to each one.

Lotsa busted screws that came out with the help of some welding

To remove: weld nuts to screw heads

The combination of heat from welding and a blast of electricity coming through the aluminum hatch body, where the ground was attached, and into the threads of the screws effectively breaks the bond that holds the screws and kept them from loosening up.

The first three screws to come out

Everywhere you see black soot, it’s from a little zap with the welder to attach a nut. With the screws out, the pieces come right apart.

The grill casting looks really good

What surprised me right away was that the hatch component parts were not primed or painted except for the areas that are visible. This is the same approach Chris Craft/Bomar used with the original portlights, and I think it encourages corrosion.

With the grill removed, the hatch top piece comes off easily

Again, there’s no paint or primer on the underside of the casting. While aluminum oxide is super tough stuff, I feel the component needs to either be fully bare or fully barrier coated. When the outside is coated but the inside isn’t, the paint line provides a path for aluminum oxide to creep under the exterior coating and make a mess of things.

Threads in the cast housing looks surprisingly good

Next, drive out roll pins and separate the hatch halves

Glass out from the underside of the hatch top

You can see some of the original DAP-like window sealant that remains. The fact that it’s only adhered in a few spots tells me water had no trouble seeping between the hatch and glass.

Again, window sealant only adheres in a few spots

That DAP-like sealant is hard as a [sedimentary] rock

Dirt on the glass retainer ring shows water was getting in.

Sealant? What sealant?

The vent that never moves!

I’ve had three big Chris Craft cruisers with this style of hatch, and not one of them had a functioning vent. The sheet metal vent closer thingies on all of them were stuck in place. Now I know why: they were each held in place with four plain steel screws. Just a wee bit of corrosion and they’d stick solid. But there’s more…

Not exactly a smooth surface for a vent closer thingy to slide on

Again, the parts you can’t see get no primer or paint…it’s just bare cast aluminum. BUT when they coated the outside, some of that primer and paint ran inside between the hatch and the vent closer thingy, effectively gluing them together.

My plan is to remove the excess paint from the outside, then sandblast and treat all of the hatch components with Alumiprep. Then I’ll send them over to the Boatamalan painter for Awlgrip Max Cor aluminum primer and AwlCraft 2000 paint to match the exterior. Once I get them back, I’ll apply Slick Strips to separate the cast aluminum hatch from the vent closer thingy. Slick Strip is an HDPE tape that makes parts slide very smoothly. I’ve used it before to solve a grinding salon slider door on my Commander 42. It should work perfectly here, too.

50 grit on a sander removes three layers of paint

Minor pitting in the casting, which should fill just fine with Awlquik

Casting imperfection

It’s a bit surprising how many casting imperfections Chris Craft and Bomar tolerated back in the day. This was an air bubble, by the looks of it, and it was just painted over.

With the hatch disassembled, the next step is sandblasting. I’ve been holding off on blasting because I wanted to do it all in one go, but it was just too cold over the winter. Now, with the portlights and hatch all disassembled, I’m almost ready to get ‘er done.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Cabin Floors

Oh, and please check out the page where I post all of my items For Sale: Refit Parts, Tools, Supplies & Leftovers.

 

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Trim Tabs

Winter 2014 just won’t let go. We got another dump of snow last week, which Tent Model X fortunately shrugged off just like it has all of the others. Best Tent Ever! Today it will be 71°F, but tonight it will drop to 25° and not go above 33°F tomorrow. Sheesh! Somebody tell Mother Nature to quit flipping the danged Season switches back and forth!

With my target of getting the boat functionally seaworthy so I can splash her in autumn of 2014, I took advantage of a rare 60° day last weekend and made some patterns for the “Roamer Cruise Control” trim tabs. I gave the originals to my previous machinist/mechanic so he could replace the steel plate, which was pitted. But when we parted ways in 2013 and I asked for my things back, he said he had either lost them or threw them away. So, I get to reverse engineer a set…yea!

Scrappy remains of the (hopefully) last snow storm of 2014

Tent Model X…Best tent ever!

Set up shop and get busy

I’ve got a pile of moldy 1/4″ luan plywood that I use for patterns. I use my EZ track saw to ensure the initial cuts are perfectly straight. The track saw is overkill here, but I figure the more practice I get with it the better off I’ll be when it comes to interior joinery.

The original Chris Craft Roamer Cruise Control tabs in as-found condition in 2008.

1/4″ steel plate has a little pitting, but they were plenty good enough to be used as patterns

It really was too bad the previous mechanic “lost” them. It’s a lot easier making replacements from patterns than it is from scratch.

Brace up the trim tab pattern, then run inside the boat and drill the holes.

Next, scribe the line marking the trailing edge

Shop Smith bandsaw and 12″ disk sander to finish the job

It’s a tight fit up under the bow!

By flipping the pattern this way and that, I managed to get all of the edges sanded.

Radius the corners and the pattern is almost done.

Test fit looks good…time to mark the actuator pin location

The Chris Craft Roamer Cruise Control actuator

Once I had the port trim tab pattern built, the starboard one was a snap. I dropped them off at the fabricator’s shop on the way home. They ought to be ready to install before Spring returns for good this year.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Disassembling the Bow Hatch

1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Window Pains III–the Evil Helm Windshield Frames

I used to think the paint job was the hardest part of this refit, but I was wrong. By far, the hardest, most frustrating and time-consuming part has been trying to get the helm station windshield frames back in the boat. The aft stateroom portlights were time consuming, mostly because each one had no less than 40 screws holding them together and most of them or the holes they screwed into were corroded….oh, and there were 12 of the portlights to disassemble. But while removing evil screws is tedious, at least at the end of an eight-hour day standing in front of a drill press you can look at four of them in a disassembled state and know you got something done. The windshield frames are a whole nother matter.

As I explained in a post in late December 2013, the helm windshield frame parts don’t seem to fit the cabin top and aft enclosure roof anymore. The entire hardtop has been firmly attached to the aluminum aft deck enclosure since before 2009. I removed the windshield frames in 2013 in preparation for paint, but we never loosened the hardware that attaches the hardtop to the rest of the boat. Still, when I tried to put it back, the frames just plain do not fit square. This is the thing that has been vexing me all winter long.

Little bit of overbite there

The leading edge of the hardtop hangs a bit low because there’s nothing supporting it. When I attached the frames to the hardtop in November, the lower end protruded just a bit. No problemo, I thought…just need to jack up the leading edge of the hard top and it’ll pull right back into place.

Jack up port side and support with pieces of 3/4″ phenolic-faced plywood.

I jacked it up just enough to bring the lower edge of the window frame into alignment with the base on the cabin top when the jack is released and the hardtop is sitting on the plywood. Then I jacked up the center of the hardtop and used a 2×4 to brace it in place.

Jackin’ away

Ditto for the starboard side

With the two outside windshield frame parts fitting pretty well in the space between the hardtop and cabin top, the rest ought to be a slam dunk…right?

Looks OK at the top, though I don’t like the gap on the trailing edge

Fit on the bottom looks good, but there’s that little gap on the leading edge

Not a super tight fit, but I’ve seen worse

Moving on to the center section…what the ???

The center section upper frame extrusion protrudes by 5/32″ or so

The OE screw holes for the center section of the windshield frame are unmolested. This is the place Chris Craft installed this extrusion, and it sticks up proud of the hard top by more than an 1/8″.

Fitting the center frame port upright

I think it’s supposed to go here

But when the upright is lined up with the hardtop, it’s way off on the bottom.

It isn’t long enough to reach the cabin top!

So, I jacked up the center of the hardtop and cut 1/2″ out of the 2×4 center brace. When I let it down and removed the jack, the upright fit the bottom pretty well.

Not a bad fit

But again…there’s that gap at the leading edge.

Uprights in position

I thought I was making good progress by getting the height right, but  there were still a couple of screws holding some of the frame parts together. Time to do something about that.

Penetrating oil didn’t help this one

Dang it! Evil little screws!

If you ever wondered what’s holding those windshields together…

The connectors are just bits of 1/8″ flat stock and sections of 2″ x 2-1/2″ 6061 angle with holes drilled and threaded into them. But when stainless screws snap off in aluminum, that’s the beginning of a very long slog at the drill press.

More snapped off stainless screws in aluminum connectors

Gak

Now I’ve got to manufacture some new connector pieces. On the upside, I’ve got the materials on-site. The downside is that I’ve got the tools to do the job down at the house…and that’s an hour’s drive one-way.

The bigger problem is that even with the pieces very loosely assembled, the windshield frames don’t line up the way they should. I can get them to line up by pushing a bit, but then the joints open up incrementally all over the place. And where the joints open up, I’d have to modify several of the pieces–sanding little bits off here and there so the joints fit right again. Then I’ll have to make new connectors for each joint, and the holes will have to be drilled just so. Also, nobody makes windshield extrusions like these anymore, and there aren’t any used ones I’ve been able to find. Even when I thought I had a solution with used extrusions from a Chris Craft Commander of the same vintage that was being scrapped out, it turns out that they’re different even if the exterior appearance is the same.

If I sand, cut or otherwise modify the original parts just a wee bit too much…I’m doomed.

It’s time to take a break from the stupid helm windshield. It’s too frustrating installing the pieces, only to find a problem, and then take them apart again only to find another problem on reassembly/test fit, and then repeat the process over and over again. Based on what I’m seeing here, plus the repair patch we found at the base of the windshield when we removed the windshield, the missing center section of the windshield, and a really odd collection of screws that held the windshields into the frames, I’m becoming more and more certain that this boat’s helm windshields or perhaps the hardtop was involved in a collision with something that caused it to move around…a Travel-lift, perhaps, or maybe a long prong on a forklift, like one might use for a repower…

It’s all a big mystery why it’s the way it is, but the frustration with trying to make it right is painfully, frustratingly obvious! 😦

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Trim Tabs

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Enclosure Glass

The aft enclosure glass got delivered back in early November 2013, but we were wailing away on the final steps of the exterior paint job and I didn’t have time to install it. Then I had to remake the tent in preparation for winter, which took a goodly bit of time. Then winter 2014 hit with a vengeance, with weeks of brutally cold temps, snow storms, ice…you name it.

Yeah…I know…I’m a wimp. lol

Anyway, we got a break in the weather, so I took advantage of a 60°F weekend and got the windows installed in the aft enclosure.

First, tape off the exterior window opening

I have a bunch of leftover 3M 1/2″ fine line tape, which works well for protecting the paint from the sealant.

2) Run a bead of Boat Life polysulfide around the window frame, then place spacer blocks

The spacer blocks help ensure that there’s an adequate gap to allow for expansion between the glass and the frame.

3) Place the glass in the frame and moosh it into place with clamps

Tapered blocks cut from scrap 2x4s press up against the glass. This window was particularly challenging because I had to warp the glass to the frame, which had a curve in it. The frame has a curve in it because the SMIB fabricator who built my aft enclosure twisted some of the panels when he welded them all together. Not a problem…tempered glass reportedly takes curves rather well.

4) Use a plastic spreader to remove excess caulk

Then repeat for all the other windows

I’ll remove the clamps next weekend, then razor off the bit of rubber that remains on the glass.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Window Pains III–the Evil Helm Window Frames

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Return of the Bow Seat Windows

Back in early November, I took delivery of my bow seat windows from Motion Windows out in Washington State. There were a few surprises with the quality of the windows, the biggest one of which was that two of them didn’t fit into the window openings! Motion stood behind their product, though, and in mid-December 2013 I shipped them back to the manufacturer for a do-over. The crate showed up again a week ago, so I took them out to the boatyard to see if they fit.

The ol’ crate has got some miles on her from 2 trips across N. America

No plastic film around the windows this time

The first time I got them, the windows were all wrapped in clear plastic film to protect them from abrasion…not this time though.

Big screws

The center windshield inner clamp ring was secured to the frame with #12 wood screws, which are about two sizes larger than the slots into which they were screwed.

Galled screws

The screws were too big for the slots, so the screws galled when they were installed at the factory. And the screws aren’t even fully seated against the clamp ring here. I have no idea why they used #12 screws in slots sized for #8 screws.

Two different sized fasteners

Galled trim ring from oversized fastener

Properly sized screw fits the slot nicely

Since the oversized screws were only on the center window, which opens, I’m guessing Motion used them because of the forces associated with an opening window. But I think they could have accomplished the same thing by simply using more screws of the right size. Otherwise, they should size the slots for the screws they intend to use. Forcing screws into slots or holes that are too small doesn’t strike me as the right approach.

How many times I gotta say no stickers or badges? lol

It’s a little thing, and they only put a small badge on the center window instead big ones on all three like before, but “no badges” was one of the things I asked for on the re-do.

TWANG! went the port side clamp ring when I removed the screws

I removed all of the screws from the port window above, starting on the side nearest me. When I removed the last of the screws along the top, leaving only the two on the far end, the clamp ring made a kind of TWANG sound. If you look at the pic above, you can see that the clamp ring is held in place by two screws on the far side, but on the near side it’s offset. The screw slot in the clamp ring should be directly over the slot in the frame into which the screw should thread. But instead, it’s tweaked 3/8″ or so to the left. They had to see this at the factory but just forced it into place.

Screw slots in the clamp ring are ~3/8″ offset to the left of the threaded frame slot

On the plus side, the welds and finishing at the corners looks very good. The welds don’t protrude from the extrusions, which was the case the first time around and the reason why the windows didn’t fit.

Looking at it from the other end…definitely not square

You can also see in the pic above that the left side screw is as far as the slot will allow toward getting the clamp ring centered over the frame. So, by my counting there were two mistakes at the factory: the first was the fabricator cuttin the clamp ring parts just slightly too big. The second was forcing the assembled clamp ring onto the window frame that it didn’t quite fit.

Screws removed…the clamp ring sits square over the frame

But the screw slots don’t line up with the threaded slot in the frame

It’s only 3/32″ or so off…but that matters!

Starboard side window was perfect

Next came the dry fit into the window openings….

Drumroll, please…

TA-DAaaaa!

They slid right in the openings. Perfect fit.

I’ve been waiting six years to see the center window open!

Is that slick or what?!?

It will be sooo nice to be able to open the window when we’re at anchor to let the breeze waft through the galley and salon. 🙂

On Motion Windows, I have to say I really like the concept for their product, and their front office customer service is outstanding. But…their prices were 15% higher than the competition, which is fine if the quality is there. One out of three of my windows was perfect, which tells me that they have the capacity to do it right every time. So it’s a bit disappointing to see problems, especially since this was a do-over from quality and dimension problems on the first set. Granted, the company badge came off with a scraper, I can use a die grinder to make the clamp ring screws fit, and I can go buy more properly sized screws for the center window. None of these problems are deal-stoppers like the first set, where Motion made the windows larger than the templates. But for the price, I think they should be getting this stuff right from the factory the first time around.

I won’t install these permanently until I have some other things ready to go that will also be bedded in white polysulfide. No point in opening a tube if I’m not going to use it all up. Speaking of polysulfide…

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Enclosure Glass.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Engine Beds

My priorities for 2014 are 1) propulsion install, 2) steering, and 3) windows, glass and sealing up all exterior openings. On one of the frosty cold Saturdays in January, I went to the boatyard and started measuring the engines and the space they’ll occupy in the engine room. Lemme tell ya–when it’s 18°F outside, the engine room of an unheated aluminum boat is the last place you want to be for very long. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to get the measurements. Before frostbite set in, I had everything I needed and charged back home to play with google SketchUp on the computer.

Your basic virtual Cummins 430 Diamond in a Chris Craft Roamer 46

The vertical stringers are 1/4″ aluminum plate that’s seam welded on both sides to the hull plating. The stringer plates are topped with 2-1/2″ x 3″ x 1/4″ 6061 aluminum angle that is seam welded on both sides to the stringer. The width from the top outside edge of the angle on one side to the other is 28 inches.

Motor mounts land right on top of the OE stringers

And when I say “right on top”… I mean dead-center over the 1/4” aluminum vertical stringer.

Vibration isolator bolts will have nowhere to go

The isolator bolt is 1 inch diameter. If I set it all the way inboard (relative to the engine), the bolts that attach the isolators to the stringer will go directly into the vertical stringer plate, leaving no way to put nuts on them. If I move the isolator outboard, the bolts will go into the angle. If I continue moving the isolator outboard, the bolts eventually hang over the air with only about 1/3 of the isolator perched on the stringer.

I could remove the motor mounts from the engines and have the slots cut further inboard. But if I do that, I’m reducing the width of the footprint. On the principle that the mounts that came with the engines were engineered with a certain size of slot, I decided to maximize the width of the isolators. Which means I have to make new engine beds outboard of the existing stringers.

I’m thinking something like this

5″ x 3″ x 3/8″ 6061 angle with 3/16″ gussets and a 1/4″ bar running along the bottom so the offset matches the OE angle that’s welded to the outside of the vertical stringer.

I like the orbit feature of SketchUp that allows you to view the object from any angle and capture it in a jpg file…and free is a very good price!

While I kind of felt like January and February 2014 were lost months on the refit, it’s not a bad thing to have the time to think through and design stuff like this. I was able to do the same thing during the paperwork SNAFU lull, when I worked out many of the interior concepts for the boat. With the engine bed designs done, I ordered the materials from Posners. By the time the nasty winter weather broke I was ready to start fabricating.

Dry fitting all of the pieces

I used my Harbor Freight handheld bandsaw to cut the 25′ stick of angle into four pieces and my Shopsmith bandsaw to cut the gussets. Then I used the 12″ sanding disk attachment to square up all of the parts and leave a nice finish.

Not a bad fit

I will hold off on welding it all together until I’ve got the prop shafts in so I’ll know where the engines will sit. This is one of several welding operations that will happen one day in the next few weeks.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Return of the Bow Seat Windows