1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the AC Circuit Panels

I shifted from doing cabinetry in the aft HVAC closet to focusing on electrical. My Boatamalan painter says the headliner has to be installed before he can spray the ICA clear top coat on the salon and V-berth mahogany. But before the headliner can be installed, I have to do all of the wiring. Most of that will involve running 12vdc lighting circuits and speaker wires, plus installing the plywood bases that the speakers and lights will attach to. Before I get to that, I want to wrap up some 240/120vac stuff.

The main power panel

I like the look of that tinted epoxy.

New ammeter donuts

My old Constellation 52 had ammeters so you could monitor power consumption and make sure loads were balanced. This Roamer only came with a voltmeter, but I plan to install NOS ammeters that match the voltmeter. For now, I’m just installing the donut current transformers on both hot legs and running the wiring up to where the ammeters will be installed. I’ll put the gauges in later, after the sanding and painting is done.

The OEM bilge pump plate and switches sure look nice

The original screws that attach the plate to the panel were deteriorated chromed bronze. I decided to replace them with stainless, so I ordered a bag of 250 #4 3/8″ oval head screws since the same ones are used on all of the OEM cabinet hinges and other hardware. But when I went to install them, I discovered that #4 is too big! Turns out Chris Craft used #3.5 screws! I haven’t been able to find a source for stainless screws in that size. If anybody knows where to find them, please leave a comment and let me know!

Tangled mess

In preparation for powering up the 12vdc breaker panel, I opened up the salon cabinet service chase. Though it looks like a tangled up mess of wires in there, the permanent wiring for the boat is actually well secured and organized. The messy wiring is for the various passive infrared alarm sensors I installed after the rat bastard thieves cleaned me out back in 2014.

Speaking of which, my insurance company, Chubb, has informed me that they’ll not be renewing my policy. Apparently, one claim for the burglary and another for the Nor’Easter damage earlier this year was too much. So now, on top of the usual complications of a busy life, I’m shopping around for boat insurance.

Tracking down a wire gives me a chance to clean some hidden sandblasting residue

Wrapping up the aft AC circuit panel

NOS fuel line makes good chafe protection

I’ve had this 1/4″ ID fuel line for a long time. It’s old enough that I wouldn’t use it in a fuel system, but it comes in handy as chafe protection.

That’s better than a sharp metal edge

Prepped for epoxy and insulation

US Composites 635 epoxy is good stuff

Apply epoxy, then staple the Buffalo Batt insulation in place

Not bad!

Long as I’m in here…

Might as well install the PEX water lines for the washing machine

I’ll finish this install later

Confounded by an ebay seller

Because this is an aluminum boat and aluminum loses to copper when they come together in damp environments, I’ve been trying to eliminate as much exposed copper as I can during this refit. Water condensing on copper or bronze, then dripping off into the bilge can carry copper ions that can attack the hull. So instead of using bronze PEX fittings, I thought I’d try plastic ones that were advertised on ebay. Turns out the plastic ones are for a different, older type of PEX. They don’t work with what I’m using. So the water line install will have to wait until I order more proper PEX fittings.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Powering Up the 12VDC Breaker Panel.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Aft Storage/HVAC Closet

Things have been very busy recently, and I’ll be taking a few weeks off of the blog to go to the other side of the planet for my younger son’s wedding. But before I go, I wanted to post updates of the aft cabin storage/HVAC closet.

With the laundry closet close to done, next is the storage closet

First, fit 1″x 1″ mahogany cleats for the back panel

Cleats on both sides

Next, pull the 12ga 240v cable for the marine air conditioner and 14ga cable for the 120v transom outlets

Next, dig into the shrinking plywood stack and pull out the last 1/4″ Douglas fir panel.

Marking off the back panel

First try didn’t work

I thought I’d be able to remove small cutouts so I could pivot the panel into place around the thruhull and hull framing in this area. Unfortunately, the angle of the thruhull makes it impossible to pivot this panel in place. So I ended up cutting the lower left corner clean off.

With the corner gone, the panel pivots into place

Next, cut a small panel to fill in the corner

That’s sufficiently tight

If the panels fit too tightly, they don’t pivot into place.

Next, cut some Buffalo Batt insulation to fit

Wet out the panel with epoxy

And lay on the insulation

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Aft Storage/HVAC Closet Back Panel

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: More Progress in the Laundry Closet

I have been super busy recently…even more than usual. But I’m still making progress on the Roamer. After fitting and insulating the ceiling panel for the laundry closet, next I made the dryer vent box for the rear panel and then painted everything with white-pigmented epoxy.

Making the dryer vent box

I need to put a box in the back wall of the laundry closet to make space for the dryer vent duct to go up to the porthole, where it will exit the boat.

The Kreg pocket screw jig helps with the last step for the bottom panel

The vent box and ceiling panel are ready for epoxy coating

White-tinted US Composites 1:1 ratio epoxy

Nice!

Next day, the epoxy is fully cured

Glue, screw, and clamp the box together

Next day, the box gets the Buffalo Batt non-woven fabric insulation treatment

Once the epoxy cures, it’s ready to install

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Panels in the Laundry Closet

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the Laundry Closet Ceiling

With the electrical work started and other prep done in the aft stateroom laundry closet, next I got busy cutting and fitting the overhead ceiling panel. In all of the open areas in the salon, galley, v-berth, and aft stateroom, I’ll use Whisper Wall material as the headliner. But in the bathrooms and closet spaces, I’m going with 1/4″ Doug fir marine plywood that’s painted on the visible face and insulated on the back-side.

The last sheet of 1/4″ marine ply was on the bottom of the stack

The plywood stack is like a progress-o-meter. If I’ve calculated materials right, I’ll run out of mahogany ply on the last bit of cabinetry. I’m down to six sheets of 1/2″ and two of 1/4″.

Measuring the overhead width

It’s a boat…nothing’s square. I find I get the best fit in this sort of situation if I use two sticks to gauge the actual distance, then measure the sticks with a tape.

Laying out the cut lines

Rough cuts are done…time to see if it fits

Very close…but not quite there

The aft deck is angled down a bit heading aft, and the ceiling here isn’t square. What I found is that the panel doesn’t come close to fitting if I insert it leading edge first…or any other edge, for that matter. But it almost slides right into place if I put the aft outer corner in first, then slide the aft inner corner most of the way home, and then push the inner edge up into place. But the outer forward corner was getting hung up.

Need to knock off a bit there to get the angles matching

It was still a bit tight along the leading edge of the panel when I tried to fit it again.

Shaving off a bit on the aft edge should do the trick

So close, but yet so far…

A bit more trimming, and it slid right into place.

Boom

Mark off the backside for epoxy and insulation

Saturate the panel with epoxy

Lay on the Buffalo Batt insulation, and press it in place

With all of the insulation I’m using and with the interior spaces almost completely isolated from the hull envelope, this boat should be very comfortable temperature-wise all year round.

Unfortunately, I’m a clown sometimes

I forgot to mark off gaps for the overhead frames before laying on the epoxy and insulation. So after the epoxy cured I had to remove strips of insulation so the panel would seat on the frames. On the upside, I now have tested the stability of the panel-epoxy-nonwoven insulation fabric bond and found it to be (irritatingly) robust. That stuff’s never coming off on its own!

I had to remove one more strip of insulation at the marks, then it was done

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: More Progress in the Laundry Closet

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Starboard Salon Cabinetry

It’s absolutely miserable in the tent. During the winter, it’s so cold the epoxy doesn’t kick for days on end. During the summer, even on pleasant days it’s so hot and humid inside that unless I’m in the direct path of a blast of air from a fan, I get drenched with sweat and can’t handle wood without dripping on it. Fortunately, I keep plugging along and am getting closer to the time when the Roamer can finally come out of the tent. Along those lines, I wrapped up the ‘behind the scenes’ panel installation in the salon. Booyah.

Inside the cabinetry, we’re ready to frame out the ceiling cleats

The 1″ x 1″ mahogany cleats need to be cut at an angle that lines up with the panel mating surface on the other side

And notches get cut out for the hull framing

After drilling and countersinking the screw holes, I wetted out the cleats with epoxy, applied more epoxy  thickened with wood flour, then screwed it all together.

Next the insulated ceiling panels got glued and screwed in place

One more panel and it’s done

Sticks and a glue gun help make a pattern

Transfer the pattern to 1/4″ Douglas fir marine plywood

The EZ-One track saw and a jigsaw make cutting complex panels pretty easy

Next, cut Buffalo Batt non-woven fabric insulation for the back-side

Glue and screw the framing in place

I wetted out the panel and pressed the insulation in place. The next day, I was coating another panel with white tinted epoxy, so I slathered a heavy coat on this panel, too. It turned out pretty nice, but I wasn’t thinking/forgot that the other ceiling panels are all coated with clear epoxy.

Nice white panel!

I’m such a clown…

In retrospect, I probably should have tinted all of them white, but it’s too late. Plus, none of these panels will be visible when the cabinet doors are opened. I plan on making pretty cabinet interior boxes, so the color of these insulated panels doesn’t really matter. Still…

Looking forward

Goofy color mis-match or not, that’s a wrap for the insulated paneling in the salon. All of the toe rail bilge ducts in the salon are waterproof and ready for service. This is a big step forward.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Back Into the V-Berth

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Still Inside the Starboard Salon Cabinetry

I’m getting close to wrapping up the ‘behind the scenes’ cabinetry in the salon. By which, I mean the installation of the plywood panels that are insulated on the back-side with Buffalo Batt non-woven fabric. The port side is already done, as is most of the starboard side. There are just two more panels I need to install in this area, and I wrapped up the framing for one of those, then cut the panel and insulated it in my last article. Once that’s done, I can move on to completing the aft stateroom bilge vents and surrounding cabinetry, at which point the topsides will be almost weatherproof.

The next panel needs to fit against the new mahogany cleats AND that engine room blower outlet

But first, the blower outlet needs some work

The barrier coat Chris Craft used here didn’t hold up long, probably because it appears none of the aluminum was sanded or otherwise prepped for paint.

The white powder is aluminum oxide, and there’s lots of it

The top and bottom screws securing the base plate to the welded-in outlet came out just fine. The left and right screws…not so much.

My Harbor Freight Dremel-style tool helped with screw removal and surface prep

More aluminum oxide under the screw head

Second screw comes out the same way

Once the screws were out, I continued cleaning up the mating surface and interior of the vent outlet until all of the aluminum oxide was gone and exposed aluminum was sanded bright.

Customized acid shop brush will help apply the epoxy inside the outlet

The hooked brush will allow me to paint the interior of the exhaust duct.

White-tinted epoxy coats the duct outlet inside and out

Next, I cut the hole in the panel for the ER blower

I messed up on the order of operations here. I should have cut the hole and done the final fitting of the panel before I insulated the backside. That Buffalo Batt insulation makes panel cutting much more difficult than it needs to be. Major rookie move…

Ready to test fit

Looks good

Next, I removed the panel, epoxied the edges, wetted out the mahogany backing cleats, and applied Sikkaflex 291 LOT sealant to the vent duct mating surface. In the interim, I’d also finished installing the last starboard salon duct, which you can see to the right of the pic below.

Glued, screwed, and clamped in place

I only have one more insulated ceiling panel to cut and fit inside this cabinet, and this part is a wrap. Making the pretty mahogany cabinet interior can come later and will be relatively easy, since I won’t have to spend so much time cramped up inside the cabinet.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Starboard Salon Cabinetry

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Back Into the Starboard Salon Cabinetry

With Tent Model XXX transformed back to pre-2018 Nor’easter condition, I got back into the salon cabinets…like, literally. There were a couple of parallel projects happening back when I installed the last bilge duct in the salon, one of which was fitting the panels that form the insulated envelope between the boat interior and the hull. This isn’t very sexy work, but the results of having a fully insulated interior will be a happy missus…and that’s priceless.

Back inside the salon cabinet!

The view inside before the duct was installed

I installed a mahogany cleat on the floor to give a wall panel something to seat up against.

Ready to glue and screw in place

Next, I had to make a cleat to run up the left side of the panel. It’s complicated by some funky angles going on in here.

The cleat will attach to the vertical aluminum frame that the engine room vent panel butts up against

The cleat cut to length

Next I need to cut a rabbet of decreasing depth.

Gotta love the EZ-One Track Saw for this kind of stuff

Drilled and ready to install

Glued, screwed, and clamped in place

Before epoxying the cleats in place, I cut the wall panel

 

Then I cut a piece of Buffalo Batt insulation for the back-side

Saturate the back of the panel with epoxy, then apply the insulation

Press the insulation in place and go home

Next day, cut the cabinet interior overhead panels

Lay out and cut the second panel

Test fit…looks good!

Cut and fit the insulation

Wet out the panels and lay on the insulation on the backside of one

Keep applying epoxy to the face of the other panel until it doesn’t take anymore

Lay heavy stuff on the insulation and go home.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Still Inside the Starboard Salon Cabinetry

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Insulating and Installing the Port Salon Panels

I wrapped up the varnish on the ceiling panels that go under the port side deck, then insulated the backside and installed them all.

I’m working in the port aft corner of the salon

The last ceiling panel is varnished, drilled, and ready for insulation

The backside gets wetted out with epoxy

Since I had epoxy mixed up, I glued and screwed all of the mahogany backing cleats in place.

Buffalo Batt insulation gets pressed in place

The forward ceiling panel also got insulated

And the middle panel, too

Next day…they’re ready to install

Next day, the forward panel is glued and screwed in place

The insulated envelope

The hull and deck are covered in spray foam insulation rated at R7. Then there’s the air gap, with the backside of each wooden panel insulated with Buffalo Batt, which provides an additional R3 insulation. The boat should be cozy in summer or winter with all of this insulation. I hope it’s worth the extra effort.

The middle panel was next

One more to go

The last panel goes here

The contact areas got wetted out with epoxy, then topped with wood flour-thickened epoxy

Boom

And that’s a wrap

With the insulation envelope done on the port side of the galley and salon, I can get to work on the salon cabinetry there.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cutting and fitting the Port Salon Cabinet

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing More Salon Plywood Panels

I had a couple of pros come by over the weekend and look over the damage the Nor-easter did to my boat. I should get estimates from them later this week. But before the storm came, I got more vent and wall panels installed on the port side in the salon.

Engine room gill vents in the hull

The gill vents look cool from the outside and are one of many signature features on Chris Craft’s Roamer metal boat line. But during the winter these vents let in a lot of cold air unless you block them off. Blocking them from the outside can be done, but you risk damaging your paint job. So I decided to make plywood panels that can be installed from the inside.

Big difference

It was near freezing the day I did this, and my kerosene heater was working overtime trying to keep the space heated. The boat immediately got a lot more comfortable once these panels were in place.

ER vent panel back in place

I cut some access hatches in the panel

The hatch openings are a lot smaller than the gill vent panels, but they only need to be big enough to install and remove the panels.

Perfect size

This will work well, I think

Epoxy sealed hatches

Lovely handiwork

These hatches won’t be visible once the settee is in place, so I didn’t spend much time making them pretty. My priority for all of these panels is to make sure they’re fully epoxy sealed and insulated on the back-side where appropriate.

Last insulated wall panel

The 1/4″ Douglas fir marine ply panel above got the usual treatment, fully epoxy sealed on the back-side with Buffalo Batt insulation applied once the wood was fully wetted out. It’s probably just my imagination, but the salon seems to be getting more and more comfortable with each insulated panel that goes in.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing The Last Port Salon Vent Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cutting and Fitting More Salon Plywood Panels

Well, winter is over and the epoxy finally cured on the last of the galley pantry panels. I also got another plywood panel installed on the port side of the salon.

The last pantry panel

Galley pantry lower panel is varnished, insulated, and ready to install

I’d forgotten the bottom panel when I varnished all the rest of the pantry panels. For all of the cabinet interiors, I’ve been using Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane clear gloss. It’s a nice product and cures to a hard finish. I’ve used ICA polyurethane on most other panels, but brush application of Minwax is much less labor intensive than spraying the ICA.

Once I finished with the varnish, I epoxy sealed all edges and applied Buffalo Batt insulation on the underside. It’s been so cold that it took ten days for the epoxy to finally cure. Unlike the other pantry panels, these last three are going to be removable to provide access to the pump-out, fresh water, and water tank vent plumbing. So it’s essential that the epoxy on the contact surfaces is fully cured before I put it all together.

Bottom panel fits nicely and looks good

The back panel is a nice, tight fit

The right side slides in first, then rotate the left side in until it seats on the backing cleats.

Last view (hopefully) of the pump-out plumbing

Nice!

Good lookin’ box

I still have to make the face frame for the pantry, but that can come later. Next, I got busy on the next salon plywood panel.

I need one more panel here

The first toe rail vent duct is to the left in the pic above. One more panel to go in this section.

A scrap from the plywood stack is just the right width

I sifted through the plywood pile looking for 1/4″ Doug fir marine ply that I could use here. It was funny how happy I felt when I found a scrap that just happened to be the exact width I needed.

The EZ-One track saw is the only way to break down large panels inside a boat

That was easy

Once fitted, I removed the panel and cut Buffalo Batt insulation to fit

Fully wetted out with US Composites 635 resin and 2:1 hardener

Press the insulation in place and go home

Next day…this is getting absurd

It’s been so chilly that the epoxy just isn’t kicking. So I’ve got all kinds of sticky plywood and solid mahogany stock all over the place. I’m running out of space to put stuff!

There’s a narrow path with sticky epoxy on all sides!

Finally, the panels are installed

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Big 2018 Nor’easter Whooped Tent Model XXX