1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Entryway Mahogany Panels

Before I splash the boat, I need to have my Boatamalan painter spray the interior with ICA polyurethane top coat. Before that can happen, the headliner has to be installed. And before THAT can happen, the plywood next to the headliner has to be pretty. But the panels at the entryway for the aft stateroom are anything but pretty.

There are at least six problems in this hot mess

1. it’s ugly
2. there’s an old HVAC supply hole cut in the bulkhead under the stairs

Problem 3: the bulkhead is curved

I made a door jamb that solves half of the problem with the curved bulkhead, but I still need to resolve the other half.

Problem 4: Chris Craft painted all of the beautiful mahogany white back here

Problem 5: The lower bulkhead has a small patch of rot

And problem #6: Chris Craft didn’t put these lower bulkheads in perpendicular to the floor. They screwed them in and pushed them into place against the aluminum framing (which warps a bit when heated during welding), then cut everything from the stairs to the cabinetry, to fit the warped panels. Fixing all of these sins is a big challenge.

Fortunately, I’ve got one more sheet of 1/8″ mahogany for this sort of thing.

First, I cut some 1/8″ mahogany panels to fit

The laundry closet door frame will butt up against the left edge of the new panel, which hides a whole bunch of ugly.

That looks better

It also works well with the new door jamb I made

This is gonna work!

Ugly, curved bulkhead? What ugly, curved bulkhead???

The other two panels look good, too!

I like it!

Next, I marked off the “curved zone”

The curved zone is where I’ll have to build up material so the new panel lays flat and perpendicular to the floor. The curve in the bulkhead is worst nearest the door opening. 18 inches over to the outboard side, there’s almost no curve at all.

The bottom of the bulkhead needed more than 1/4″ of material to build it up

I also used a router to knock off ~1/8″ from the top of the panel here. Chris Craft really didn’t care one jot about making these square.

Plywood scraps will be filler pieces

Filler pieces glued in place, roughed up, and ready for panel install

Next, wet out the back of the skinny plywood piece

Wood flour-thickened epoxy is the glue here

Conventional clamps hold the panel up top

Push sticks and other goofy clamps down below

Floor hatch makes for a big push stick!

Next day, panel 2 gets glued in place

I went through a lot of wood flour-thickened epoxy glue today

One more plywood filler panel saves on epoxy

Mahogany panel gets wetted out and topped with wood flour-thickened epoxy

More funky push-stick clamps here

I use shrink wrap plastic scraps when pressing pretty mahogany into epoxy. If any epoxy leaks through, it won’t stick to the plastic.

Push sticks in place, time to leave

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Entryway Mahogany Panels II

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Gorgeous Aft Stateroom Fascia Boards

The aft stateroom mahogany fascia boards went to the paint shop and came back finished with eight coats of ICA base clear and two of the matte top coat. They look great.

These look great!

The unpainted surfaces are the contact points where the boards will be epoxied to the ceiling framing.

The big aft board gets glued and clamped in place

Leave it to cure overnight

Next day, the side boards get glued and clamped

First, I wet out the bare wood with US Composites 635 epoxy resin, then I top it with generous dollops of the same epoxy thickened with wood flour.

Ceiling framing wetted out and coated with wood flour-thickened epoxy

Clamps in place and ready to grab the board

Looks good!

1″ x 1″ mahogany cleats help spread the clamping force

I use shrink wrap tape on the cleats so they don’t mark the pretty boards. I find that also helps eliminate ‘print through’ that can happen if the ICA top coat isn’t fully cured.

Nice, tight joint that’s also glued

Port side is next

That’s a pretty board

Next day, off come all the clamps

These turned out really nice!

Now that the fascia boards are installed, we’re almost ready to install the Whisper Wall headliner tracks.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Last Aft Stateroom Overhead Filler Boards

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Headliner Prep

The aft stateroom headliner prep is coming along nicely. I decided to jump into the salon for a change of pace and get it ready for headliner, too.

Also, I wanted to express great gratitude to those of you who hit the tip jar. I’ve been documenting this refit as a labor of love, but it feels really great to know people put tangible value on my effort. Plus, since I went from the free WordPress site that had all those irritating ads to my own ad-free domain, every donation helps cover the cost of hosting. Thanks a lot!

Whisper Wall perimeter track will work great here at the salon aft bulkhead

The trouble starts here, at the helm station chase

There’s got to be a continuous surface for the headliner track to attach to. I’ve discussed the problems I’ve discovered on the port side–the broken salon fiberglass under the helm window, the mahogany safety rail in that area that was clearly not original, the stainless stanchion pipes that had obviously been replaced. My theory is that when they were doing the repower to the twin turbo SuperSeamasters, they dropped one of the engines on the port side helm windshield, which broke the salon roof and the mahogany safety rail, and bent some of the stainless stanchions. It also caused some of the salon ceiling frames to get way out of alignment. In the picture above, you can see how the horizontal frame doesn’t meet its counterpart in the corner…it’s higher. And like a teeter-totter, if it’s high on one end, it’s going to be low on the other.

All of the framing in this area has been pushed down

The horizontal cleat didn’t move

But the ceiling framing is 1/2″ low!

There’s no way the Whisper Wall track will work with this

I want to have a separate little hatch panel here, so I can access the wiring and cables under the helm station. But with the frames 1/2″ out of alignment with the perimeter cleat, that’s just not going to work. Plus, the frames are far enough out of alignment that they’ll ‘print through’ onto the headliner…can’t have that.

Something really heavy must have landed on this area to cause this problem

I’m not going to tear off the cabintop and start over, and the fact of the matter is that the ceiling is stable in its current orientation. So what I need to do is add material to bring the perimeter cleats to the same height as the rest of the ceiling framing.

First, I need a long, tapered cleat

This EurekaZone track saw workstation is great for making angled cuts quickly

That’s a nice fit

Nice transition between the cleat and frame

The taper will smoothly bring the track down to the original perimeter cleat

Looks pretty good

Cut a short tapered piece of mahogany for the side of the helm chase

The cleat is a bit too narrow

3/4″ okume plywood scrap will make a good filler piece

The filler piece will go here

Next, I drilled pocket screw holes with my Kreg jig

Last step: glue and screw everything in place

That’s a nice transition for the headliner track to attach to

Looks good on the other side

Wood flour-thickened epoxy is the glue

The 3/4″ plywood filler piece is glued, screwed, and clamped in place

Well, that’s one problem solved. I wish I knew for sure how this damage happened, but I’m sticking with my theory until something proves me wrong. If I’m right, can you imagine the horror on the mechanics’ faces as the engine and gear tumbled to the ground, wreaking havoc all the way down?

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Entryway Panel

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Porthole Gaskets

Way back in 2013, I disassembled all of the hateful aft stateroom portholes.

OEM gaskets get hard over time

By late 2014 they were back from the paint shop looking very pretty, but it wasn’t until 2016 that I had new glass and screens in them. The last thing I need to wrap up the portholes is gaskets. There are several gasket options that are readily available, and each one has it’s plus and minus points.

WEFCO Square Hollow Rubber Gasket is $1.69 per foot, and I need around 60 feet to do all of the portholes. That’s a relatively  cheap option, but it’s got two downsides: ethylene propylene rubber is a relatively hard material at 65 to 80 durometer on the Shore A hardness scale. This particular gasket is squishy because it’s hollow in the middle, just like the OEM gasket. I suspect it would also get hard over time just like the OEM gasket. The other downside is that there would be four joints in each porthole gasket, and that’s four opportunities to leak.

Then there’s Stop Water Gasket, which offers very nice urethane rubber one-piece gaskets for each style of OEM Chris Craft hatch and porthole. They claim that their urethane is softer than the original gasket material, which is good, but at $41 each it’s a pretty expensive option.

Hardness chart courtesy of Ecoflex

So–and this will come as a total shock, I’m sure–I started looking into making gaskets myself using super soft silicone. I eventually settled on Ecoflex 00-50 platinum-catalyzed silicone. As you can see in the chart above, Shore 00-50 is very soft material. And Silicone retains its its original shape and hardness pretty much forever. So I ordered a 2-gallon kit and set about making the mold while waiting for the silicone to arrive.

2×4 scraps should work for the mold

A few passes over my jointer trued the lumber

Mini Max FS35 jointer leaves a very nice surface on the wood

A super flat surface on the lumber will help ensure the mold is a consistent depth, so the gaskets will have consistent height.

Next I measured the portholes

I sampled several of the portholes. The biggest gap that needs to be filled by the gasket is 5/16″. The stock gasket is 3/8″, which should be fine, but because the silicone is so soft, I’ll add 1/32″ to the mold depth. That should help ensure these things never leak.

3/8″ width will be perfect

Next, I cut all of the lumber to the same width

The first mold cut

Cut 2 makes the width 13/32″

Harbor Freight featherboard was a great buy

If you use a tablesaw, you should have a fingerboard. You can’t buy replacement fingers for $6.99.

Second pass is done

The last pass on the saw

Looks pretty good, but I need to clean up the bottom surface

3/8″ router bit in my ShopSmith cleans up the cuts

Next I varnished the lumber to seal the wood up and then cut the miters at 45°. I used US Composites 635 epoxy to saturate the joint area, then added wood flour to make glue.

Crazy clamps

While I was clamping it all together, it occurred to me that corner clamps would make this a lot easier. Then again, I don’t do this for a living, so I’m not sure I need to buy tools I rarely use. Then again…more tools…mmmmm.

By the time the epoxy cures I expect the silicone will have arrived.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Porthole Gaskets II

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: Painting Panels in the Laundry Closet

I’ve been thinking about changing platform and starting a Youtube channel. This blog started as a boating forum post way back in late 2007. After the paperwork SNAFU got cleared up in late 2012, I transferred the content to WordPress and started blogging. Like the refit itself, the blogging has been a labor of love so far. But I’ve been thinking it’d be nice if there was some return on the time investment, and Youtube looks like a better monetizing option than a WordPress blog.

There are risks to changing the platform. The time commitment for a Youtube vlog could be a lot more than a photo journal blog. And after the rat bastard thieves burglarized the tent a few years ago, I’ve been very careful taking pictures so I don’t show where the motion sensors for the alarms and surveillance cameras are located. Also, pix don’t show the layout of the boat.  In a video format, I might be giving potential thieves the advantage of knowing the exact layout of the boat and where all of the goodies are located. It’s also entirely possible that I will suck as a Youtuber. lol Seriously though, I try to keep the blog tightly focused on the specific project I’m working on. With Youtube, the presenter’s style seems to be as important (if not more so) than the actual topic of a particular video. I don’t have a video presenter style…I’ve never needed or wanted one. If anybody has thoughts on this or experience with monetized Youtube channels, please comment below.

With that said, I got the walls and floor of the laundry closet painted.

First, I mixed up some brown-tinted US Composites 150 series epoxy

The 150 series epoxy is more viscous than their 635 version, and it’s specifically intended for coating. The missus said she wants brown walls and floor, but she wants a white back panel, so that’s what she’s getting.

Before

After

That lays on pretty well for one heavy coat

The next day, I mixed up some white epoxy and coated the back wall.

Nice!

The reason I’m using epoxy here is that it’s the fastest way to coat panels. I’ve also seen how poorly plywood coatings hold up when only primers and paint are used. Unlike epoxy, which soaks in and binds the grain in a plastic matrix, primers and paint don’t hold together as well, and eventually the grain breaks the coating. I never, ever want to have to touch this again, so epoxy is the way to go. The only weakness for epoxy is that it doesn’t do well in sunlight. But in this laundry closet, there will be very little sunlight. I think the epoxy will do just fine.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Final Panel In the Laundry Closet

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

Once the epoxy cured on the dryer vent box that fits into the laundry closet back wall, I installed the box and the ceiling panel.

I’ll use pocket screws to secure the vent box in place

Serious question: How did man survive before the invention of cordless angle drills?

Good squeeze-out of the wood flour-thickened epoxy when I put the screws in

The vent box is installed

Next I tackled the ceiling panel.

These are all of the parts to be installed

I had to remove some spray foam insulation before wetting out the wall panel with epoxy

1″ x 1″ ceiling panel cleat is glued and screwed in place

Additional cleats got installed between the frames

And the last cleat then got glued and screwed in place

Ready for the ceiling panel.

Saturate the plywood with epoxy, then top with wood flour-thickened epoxy

The ceiling panel will have no screw holes. Epoxy will bond the panel to the frames all the way around.

Every single stick serves a specific purpose

It turns out that 1/2″ and 1/4″ plywood scraps work really well to hold overhead panels in place until the epoxy cures. Put a little bend in them so they act like springs, keeping pressure on the panel and maintaining full contact with the overhead frames.

Just have to wait for the epoxy to cure

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

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: Installing the Final V-Berth Mahogany Panels

The V-berth paneling is just about done. I have to say, it turned out pretty darned nice.

Marking off the plywood panels for the ‘shelf’ around the V-berth

Measure the angle from the shelf to the curvy walls

I could rely on the bevel and epoxy to hold up the back edge of the shelf panel where it will meet the curved side wall. But I decided to make angled cleats just to make the joint more robust.

Cleat angles look about right

They’ll get glued and screwed on here

Mark the cleat locations

Then cut the Buffalo Batt insulation for the under-side

Insulation is epoxied in place…they’re ready to install!

Cleats are glued and screwed in place

Next, I wetted out all of the joints with epoxy and started installing panels.

Epoxy thickened with wood flour makes strong glue

Base panels are installed

Next, I saturated the base panel top surfaces and the under-side of the pretty ribbon stripe mahogany 1/4″ plywood with epoxy. Then I mixed up some wood flour-thickened epoxy, brushed on a thin coat, and installed the mahogany panels one by one.

Pressing the mahogany panel in place

I wonder sometimes how professionals would deal with this sort of situation. My solution is to put shrink wrap tape on solid blocks of wood, and use that to press the veneer panel to the base. Epoxy doesn’t stick well to the tape, so if I miss some epoxy when I’m wiping the panel with alcohol after I put it in place, the solid block of wood pops free very easily the next day. Then I use scraps of 1/8″ and 1/4″ plywood as springs between the overhead deck framing and the solid blocks that press the mahogany panel onto the base.

Next day, the blocks and springs come off…

On to the next panel…

One more to go

Looks good!

AC vent opening turned out nicely

A straight router cut trims the opening

I used Sikaflex 291LOT for sealant and stainless screws installed from underneath to attach the MSI transition box to the opening in the plywood.

Last panel gets pressed in place

Next day, off come the spring panels and blocks

Not bad joinery for a weekend woodworker!

Done!

I’ll eventually put a fiddle molding on the edge of the shelf, but the big panel work is finally done in the V-berth.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Install of the V-Berth Forward Bunk Cabinet

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