1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Refurbing the Original Electric Panel II

The face of the original electric panel turned out very nice with that white tinted epoxy. I was tempted not to mess with the backside, since it’s epoxy sealed and will rarely be seen. But when I ordered the white tint and thick, 150 series epoxy resin and hardener from US Composites, I also ordered their brown colorant specifically for areas like this.

Sanded, taped off, and ready for epoxy

That 150 series epoxy really flows out nicely

Great reflection

The port side under-deck panels got coated, too

These Douglas fir panels will be buried behind the built-in settee I’ll build someday, so appearance isn’t a concern. But I think I like the uniform brown better than seeing the unattractive Doug fir grain. In retrospect, a dash of white colorant to lighten up the brown might have been better.

Next day, the tape came off

Good lookin’ panel!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cutting and Fitting More Starboard Salon Plywood Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Refurbing the Original Electric Panel

I’m still working on waterproofing the starboard side of the salon, which has involved remaking a bilge vent duct and fiberglassing the main engine room air inlet duct panel. To gain access there, I removed the original electrical panel and did some repairs to it. Next I sealed it up with white-tinted epoxy.

Back side of the electric panel has been sealed with epoxy

Mahogany sticks were epoxied into the hinge screw holes

Two of the six hinge screws had stripped out the plywood, in part because the two pieces of plywood weren’t epoxied together and the screws were right at the joint between the two panels. I epoxied the two panels together and put mahogany sticks into the screw holes, so the screws will have something solid to thread into.

Back side

With the back side sealed up (but ugly), I mixed up some US Composites 150 series thick epoxy resin and tinted it with their white colorant. I used this approach for the bed foundation in the V-berth, too. The epoxy is a tough coating that works great in places where it’s not exposed to direct sunlight. And the colorant allows me to end up with a shiny coating and sealant in one step…no primer, no additional sanding.

Not bad!

NOS ammeters look great!

The date on the label for these new/old stock Simpson ammeters says 10/62. A 1967 Chris Craft Constellation I used to own had an ammeter just like this in addition to the Simpson voltmeter, and I wanted them on the Roamer, too. I found them on ebay for a good price, and they’re a perfect match to the original voltmeter.

Nice!

The genset hour meter cleaned up well, too.

Bilge pump switches look nice all polished and waxed

Not bad!

I have to box up the meters and switches, flip the panel over, and apply a coat of the 150 series epoxy tinted brown on the backside.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Refurbing the Original Electric Panel II

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Removing the Original Electric Panel

With the OEM salon and galley cabinet interiors tricked out with mahogany veneers, I’m getting back to sealing up exterior holes to make the boat waterproof. I finished that on the port side of the salon already. To access the starboard side hull in the salon, I have to pull the original electrical panel out of the way. Chris Craft put hinges on the panel, so it’s easy enough to see the hull. But I need to get up close and personal with it, so the panel has to come out. That’ll also give me a chance to clean up the panel and get it ready for another half-century of use.

The electric panel resides behind double doors in the salon cabinetry

The cabinets are already refinished and ready for installation. I keep them at home so they won’t get damaged in the construction zone.

OEM Simpson volt meter doesn’t look bad, though the needle needs to be zeroed

After popping the meter out of the case, things look very good

All back together. Now to see if it functions

Booyah

Though this boat didn’t come with ammeters, my old Constellation 52 had one and I liked it. I bought some NOS Simpson units I want to install when I put this all back together.

The power selector switch appears to be in good shape

The panel is out

I thought this was 3/4″ plywood, but it turns out it’s two sheets of 1/2″

The hour meter for the genset was difficult to remove

You can see white powder on the aluminum housing for the hour meter. It’s bare aluminum, and the hole in the panel wasn’t sealed. So moisture that condensed on the metal wicked in and corroded the aluminum where it contacted the wood. Enough aluminum oxide built up to fill the gap and make it extremely difficult to remove the meter.

White aluminum oxide is incorporated in the plywood fibers

I used a holesaw to clear out the aluminum oxide, then scraped it off of the meter housing. I’ll coat the housing with clear enamel to protect the aluminum from now on. With the white powder gone, the meter fits in the hole a lot easier…but it’s still ugly.

Rough looking hour meter

Pretty hour meter

Gotta love Collinite metal polish.

Nasty bilge pump switch and panel

That wax is good stuff!

Pretty bilge pump switches and panel

Disassembling the electric panel

Separating the two halves

There was no glue holding the two panels together, and there was a surprising amount of movement between the two panels.

After sanding, the panels are ready to be glued and screwed back together

Fully saturated with epoxy and clamped flat

I plan on re-using the main AC and DC breaker panels, but I’m getting rid of the small breaker panel that was connected to the port engine battery. All 12v house loads will go through the starboard battery bank. The battery for the port engine will only be used for starting and running that engine. That will clear up some space on the electric panel, so I’ll relocate the AC power source selector switch and add those NOS ammeters in line with the OE voltmeter. But that will come a bit later.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Engine Room Vent Panel