1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fiberglassing the “Throne Room”

It’s been so hot in the tent that progress on the Roamer has slowed to a crawl. I’ve been tempted more than once to just cut the plastic off, but it’s way too soon. I’d just be making more problems for myself. So one workaround is to start very early in the morning, have lots of fans moving humid air around, and drink water…lots of water. But then we got a brief break from the heat wave. With the obligatory whining out of the way, I got the V-berth head walls and floor fiberglassed and hot coated with fairing compound. Just in time for the heat wave to return this week.

yay

Looks like a future sticky mess to me!

First, we cut all the fiberglass pieces to fit the complex shape of the V-berth head, then the fun began. But once the epoxy gets mixed, there’s no time to take pictures. Even when it’s only 85°F outside, inside the tent it’s hotter and the epoxy starts to kick pretty fast. So one guy is rolling epoxy on the walls while another is brushing into the corners. Another guy is out in the salon mixing up the next batch of epoxy. Once a wall is wetted out, in comes the 1708 biaxial fiberglass and more epoxy.  Two guys in that head with the walls wetted out with epoxy…not something I ever want to do again. Tyvek suits were a requirement, which just makes the heat and humidity worse. Even with the big fume extractor running, it was pretty miserable. But we got ‘er done.

Fiberglassed and faired

We used the same hot coat process for the fairing compound as we did for the bullet-proof cabin top. The fairing compound is a homemade mix of epoxy — the same West System we used for the fiberglass layer — thickened with fumed silica and glass bubbles in a 30/70 ratio. When we did the cabin top, we had to wait up to an hour for the fiberglass epoxy to set up enough so we could apply the fairing compound. If you try to apply the fairing compound before the epoxy starts to kick, it just pulls the fiberglass out of position. But this time, it was so hot that the epoxy was blasting past the tacky phase really quickly. We had to scramble to get the fairing compound on before the cure advanced too far.

What a sticky mess

It’s sticky and messy, but hot coating is the way to go, since it saves having to grind the fiberglass to apply fairing compound. Anybody who’s ever taken a grinder or sander to fiberglass knows how miserable that is. Plus, grinding breaks the fibers, which weakens the FRP matrix. Another benefit of hot coating is that you get an epoxy-epoxy chemical bond between the fairing compound, the FRP matrix, and the wetted out substrate, which is superior to the mechanical bond you get applying fairing compound over a sanded or ground surface.

Almost done

After the walls were all coated with a light layer of fairing compound, we applied a piece of fiberglass to the throne dias and floor around it, faired that, then laid on the last piece for the entryway, which is also the shower floor, and faired that. Lotta work, but we got ‘er done.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fairing the “Throne Room”

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Head Ceiling Panels (more fillets!)

With the aft stateroom head walls fiberglassed and faired, the ceiling panels cut, fiberglassed, and faired, and the overhead wiring done, the next step is to install the ceiling panels, prime, and prep for paint. What we’re ultimately going for here is a nearly waterproof unit bathroom, in which the ceilings and walls are fiberglassed together, like an oversized shower enclosure.

1/4″ marine plywood ceiling panel that’s been fiberglassed and faired

It’s a lot easier to do flat fairing work on a table than it is overhead, but the epoxy, fiberglass, and fairing compound make these panels heavy and awkward to move around.

Panel 1 in place

I didn’t have time to take pictures with sticky epoxy in play, but prior to installing the panel I wetted out the top side of the panel with epoxy, then applied epoxy thickened with wood flour and cabosil to each overhead frame. With a little help from a friend, I marked off the overhead frames and countersunk the screw holes before fastening the panel in place with stainless screws.

Panel 2 glued and screwed in place

Corners and panel edges are glued and screwed all around

The joint between the panels will get a strip of fiberglass

Thickened epoxy topped with wetted out fiberglass mat

Panel edges get a strip of FRP to the longitudinal mahogany beam, too

Home-made epoxy fairing compound is hot-coated over FRP

It’s a lot easier to hot-coat tacky fiberglass with homemade fairing compound made of the same epoxy + a 70/30 mix of 3M microballoons and cabosil than it is to sand cured fiberglass and apply fairing compound. Hot-coating saves a really miserable step in the process.

After sanding the fairing compound, it’s fillet time!

I do love my fillets. Seriously. Can’t get enough of ’em. Awlfair is a great product for fillet work, and it sands pretty easily, too.

Once the Awlfair sets up, we’ll hit it with Awlquik, sand, then Awlgrip 545 primer, and then final sand before painting with Eggshell Awlgrip.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Prepping the Aft Head for Paint.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Helm Station Windshield Frame

When I last wrote about that bloody windshield frame, things were not going well. While it looked great outside, the frame fit very poorly to the boat. If this was a typical Chesapeake crabber’s boat, a 3/8″ gap between the windshield frame and the hard top might not be a problem–just fill ‘er in with urethane sealant. But since this isn’t a work boat, I wanted (and paid for) a frame that fits. When the fabricator declared he’d do no more work on the frame, I had to call in my Boatamalan* painter to fix the southern Maryland fabricator’s handiwork.

* Boatamalan = joking portmanteau referring to the Central American origin of the fairing crew and painter (boat + Guatamalan). In fact, the Boatamalans are mostly from Honduras, but Boatduran doesn’t roll off the tongue like Boatamalan does. 🙂

Here’s what we’re dealing with:

3/16″ irregular gap at the port side bottom

Starboard upper corner was waaaay off

One of three high spots contacting the hard top

Zero contact at the port-side inner upright

Brand new Awlgrip got dinged up

The paint getting scratched really added insult to injury, since tape is cheap and I put a whole case of it out for the fabricator to use when the tape needed replacing. Instead of spending five minutes replacing tape, he let it get worn out and then got sloppy installing the frame (over and over again because it didn’t fit right because he welded it together off the boat). Sheesh

More dinged up paint on the port side

Swiss Cheese from all the holes the fabricator drilled…and note the scratched paint

More Swiss cheese…too many holes!

Also in the pic above, note the chip in the brand new Awlgrip paint that would be visible above the windshield frame. The fabricator’s proposed solution: “Cover it with urethane sealant.”

Sheesh…whatever happened to “American quality?”

We’ll see if Boatamalan skills and an amateur American boat refitter can put some quality back into the job. 😉

The repair process begins with blue mold release tape and a grinder to knock down high spots

Same on the starboard side

Blue mold release tape on the frame

Blue mold release tape covering the top and bottom contact areas of the frame

Heavyweight fiberglass will fill the gaps

Wetting out the fiberglass fabric

Epoxy fairing compound tops the frame to fill in any imperfections, followed by wetted out ‘glass

The fairing compound is the same homemade stuff we used when we faired the cabintop. It’s epoxy thickened with a 70/30 mix of 3M glass bubbles and cabosil.

Top the first layer with more fairing compound and another layer of ‘glass

Areas with big gaps get a 3rd layer

Top the layers of fiberglass with another layer of fairing compound

Fairing compound on the lower frame landing will fill the gaps there

Ready to slide up in place and fasten

 

Nice fit at the top starboard corner

Good fit along the bottom

Looking good at the uprights

On the inside, no more high spots

Huge gaps? What huge gaps?

Good contact all the way across the top

100% contact all the way across the top and bottom should eliminate pressure points that are prone to cracking

With the sticky epoxy dripping everywhere, we slowly backed away from the helm station and let everything cure. Time will tell if the plan works… 😉

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Helm Station Windshield III

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fillets On The Hard Top

Breaking open the Awlgrip paint job was tough, but it was the best way to resolve the problem caused by thieves stealing my drip rails (and a lot of other stuff) back in May 2014. With the paint ground back on the joint between the top and bottom halves of the hard top, and new fiberglass and fairing compound laid over the joint, next we sanded the fairing compound and used fillets to smooth the edge.

First, sand down the fairing compound

The great thing about hot-coating home made epoxy fairing compound over fresh fiberglass is that you don’t have to get itchy twice. Sanding the fairing compound is much easier than grinding on fresh fiberglass (thereby weakening it) and applying fairing compound over that.

Gotta love fillets

Awlfair is a great product for fillet work. And on this project, we’ve done lots of fillets.

Later that day, after the Awlfair kicked, we sanded the fillets smooth

Next day, we taped off the boat and sprayed Awlquik

Bad lighting, good fillet

Without a drip rail, rain will tend to drip from all over the hard top, but I’m OK with that. One thing I’ve noticed is that boats with drip rails tend to get very nasty drip lines at the spot where all the rain drips off. This may not be a problem with boats outside of urban areas, but mine will definitely be an urban boat, and all of the dust that settles on the boat and gets washed off by rain will be evenly distributed now that I don’t have a drip rail.

That’s my theory, and I’m stickin’ with it. Gotta see a bright side in this whole theft thing somehow… 🙂

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Helm Station Windshield Frame

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Prime Coat on the Hull

For the first time since February 2009, last night I packed away (hopefully forever ;-)) the leftover cabosil and 3M microballoons we used to make fairing compound, the Awlgrip High Build and Awlquik primers, all grits of longboard sandpaper and everything else having to do with fairing. We’re done with it. All that’s left to do on this paint job is cover the boat and spray the hull with Awlgrip 545 primer, then sand, cover the boat again and spray “the shiny” Awlcraft 2000 Matterhorn White. What follows are the steps between my installment of final longboarding the fairing compound on the hull and now.

Taped up the backside of the engine room vents

Plastic and tape stick very well to fresh primer

With the aft stateroom windows all freshly painted, it was much easier taping off the windows in preparation for spot priming with awlquik sprayable fairing compound.

Et voila! Awlquik sprayed!

The white areas are the Awlgrip 545 we put on the hull back in 2009. The yellow is the new Awlquik for areas that were still a bit too wavy.

Out came the longboards one last time

We used 220 grit Mirka sandpaper on 36″ boards to do the final fairing sanding. At this point, with a couple of patches to the Sharkskin plastic covering the parts of the boat that are already painted–the cabin top, aft enclosure, and non-skid on the decks–the hull is fair and ready for Awlgrip 545 final primer.

Et voila! Final primed in 545!

She looks very good sprayed all white again.

This weekend, if all goes as planned, we’ll sand the 545 with Mirka Abranet 320 grit, then blow off the dust, pull the dusty old plastic, wash the boat and tent, then cover everything again and spray “the shiny,” as the Chief Boatamalan* painter calls it. I’m off to the boatyard!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Sanding on the Hull

*Boatamalan: portmanteau indicating highly skilled boat workers of Central American origin.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Longboarding and Final Touch-ups on the Hull

With the exhaust system out of the way (for now), we focused on final longboarding and other detail work on the hull. Since I don’t want to make any cuts in the paint once it’s done, this means I have to drill out all of the holes for hardware and tap as necessary. For other holes in the hull sides, like thruhulls, I used an air deburring tool to remove excess filler. Then I applied Awlgrip Max Cor CF aluminum primer to the bare spots of aluminum inside the bores. This should help ensure that there is a continuous coating film from the coatings inside to the outside paint job, which in theory should help reduce the possibility of aluminum oxide forming and creeping under the paint, causing it to fail prematurely.

Stbd nav light cutout all cleaned out

aft bilge and shower pump thruhulls

Main engine room bilge pump outlet.

Stern light cutout

The original stern light was made of chromed pot metal that had corroded. I found a good, proper vintage replacement on ebay that was chromed bronze rather than pot metal, but it turned out to be slightly larger than the original. So it took quite a bit more work with the deburring tool to open up the cutout so it would fit. Once it was big enough that the light fixture would fit, I had to make it just a wee bit bigger in all dimensions to account for the thickness of the primer and paint we’ll apply.

Because aluminum oxide forms immediately when aluminum is exposed to atmospheric moisture and builds up over time, I wanted to reduce the amount of time the aluminum was exposed. As soon as I finished opening up each hole, I brushed some Max Cor CF inside.

Awlgrip Max Cor CF in each hole to protect the aluminum

Low spots on the hull got a touch of fairing compound

There were a dozen or so low spots we found when longboarding the hull, which we initially faired back in 2009. So we mixed up a small batch of homemade epoxy fairing compound thickened with cabosil and 3M microballoons. The base coating is Awlgrip 545 white that we applied in May 2009, so you can see the filler in the pic above and below because it’s slightly yellow from the 4:1 fast hardener we used.

A few more low spots at the bow

The flare of the bow had a low spot along a weld

Former port exhaust outlet hole

Former stbd exhaust outlet hole

Now all we have to do is longboard the patched areas and apply some Awlquik sprayable fairing compound in spots. Once that’s longboarded smooth, we’ll be ready for the final coat of Awlgrip 545 primer. Gotta move on this…summer is over and the cold winter is coming.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Windows

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Exhaust III, Decommissioning the OE System

Today I’m documenting the final step of the major exhaust system work: yanking out the old system. While it might seem like I’m jumping around unfocused, messing with the exhaust before the hull is painted, the simple fact is that I don’t want to cut, grind, drill or use epoxy resin around anything that’s already painted with “the shiny.” The exhaust system had to be done before we put the last coat of Awlgrip 545 primer on the hull. If the mechanic I fired in July 2013 had installed the engines as promised back in September 2012, I wouldn’t be dealing with this now.

The OE exhaust system consisted of two 15-foot sections of 5-inch Schedule 40 pipes welded in from the transom to the engine room bulkhead. Inside the ER, there were two large steel “suitcase” mufflers, all of which had pretty much rotted out after 15 years of service. When we got the boat in 2007, she’d been on the hard since the mid-’80s. She’d only been running on the water for a decade and a half before ending up on purgatory row. So, rather than just go with the exhaust system that Chris Craft used, which obviously had its shortcomings, I wanted to do something better, longer lasting, and quieter. The factors that led me to go with side exhaust and waterlift  mufflers were:

Noise reduction–I’ve always had Detroit-powered boats and the sound of the exhaust was something I used to like…but not for long days at the helm. Even my other boat–a 1968 427 Ford-powered Commander 42–sounds wonderful…for about 15 minutes. After that it’s pretty much just noise. Granted, the Cummins 6CTAs in the Roamer will be a lot quieter than Detroits, but they’re hardly quiet. The waterlift mufflers are going to make for a quiet ride. In solving one problem though, another pops up.

Backpressure–I’d have to run 15 feet of 8″ pipe out the back on each side to get the backpressure where Cummins wants it. By going out the side and using an auxiliary raw water outlet so it doesn’t all have to go through the muffler, I can stick with a 6″ system and keep the backpressure down.

Space– the OE 5″ pipes took up roughly 12″ of width from each side of the aft stateroom. 8″ pipes would have pushed the wasted width to about 30 inches, and the pipes are 18 inches above the aft stateroom floors. When you add in air space around the pipes, you lose a huge amount of storage volume by running the exhaust out the transom. And finally,

Bang for the buck–the price delta between 6″ exhaust parts and 8″ is significant.

While taking out the old exhaust system, I found some more reasons why long aluminum pipes out the transom weren’t such a great idea.

Transom exhaust hole

In the pic above, you can see the “pipe within a pipe” consisting of the original 5″ exhaust pipe with the 3.5″ replacement I installed inside it for the Lehman 120 engines I originally planned to use for the boat. Let me know if anybody’s interested in some nearly new 3.5″ 6061 aluminum pipe…or some Lehman 120s with Twin Disc MG-502 gears.

Aluminum patch cutting

One very nice thing about aluminum is that you can use common woodworking tools to cut it. I do find, though, that metal cutting jigsaw blades last longer than ones intended for wood.

Grind, tack and weld

My Miller Trailblazer 280 and Spoolmatic 30A worked real well for welding the patches in.

Port patch done

Starboard patch done

Old pipes out the window

Next!

I used a carbide blade on my beater Skilsaw to make the initial cuts to get the pipe down to a manageable size, since carbide cuts through aluminum like a hot knife through butter. Then I followed up with my Harbor Freight sawsall to finish the cuts. The HF saw is noisy, but what do you expect for $20? With good Freud blades it does a good enough job and is still going strong after 7 years.

Incidentally, the pic above shows the half of the pipe that’s still connected to the boat at the engine room bulkhead. It’s also connected to the hull frame at the cut point. Since that welded brace midway along the pipe is behind extensive cabinetry with the original interior and the OE fuel tank, it’s got to be a really big job gaining access if you ever have to…say…replace a rotten pipe. You can’t just cut the two ends and pull the pipe out the transom.

OE exhaust is out

Extensive pitting in the OE exhaust pipe

The shot above shows the interior of the exhaust pipe that was welded to the ER bulkhead. The pipe is rotated so what was the bottom is on the right side in the pic. You can see the extensive pitting in the metal, especially where raw water would have been flowing when the engines were running. My theory is that the aluminum was attacked by copper ions from the exhaust risers on the Super Seamaster twin turbo engines that I pulled out of the boat back in 2008. Some of those pits looked extremely deep…

White spots on the outside?!?!?

Like the rest of the hull, Chris Craft coated the exterior of the exhaust pipes with bitumastic and silver paint. Out of curiosity, I looked at the outside and noticed three spots where there was a wee bit of white powder, AKA aluminum oxide, which is what aluminum turns into when it corrodes.

Houston, I think we’ve got a problem.

My steel pick when straight through the pipe with very little effort. One of the holes was big enough to put a 1/4-20 bolt through it; another was big enough for a 3/16″ screw.

Auxiliary exhaust ports?

When I saw this I had to laugh, thinking back to the fellow who sold the boat to me when he said all it needs is engines and a paint job.

With the OE exhaust system off the boat and the new side exhaust flanges at the paint shop, I focused on wrapping up the final work to get the hull ready for “the shiny.”

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Longboarding and Final Touch-ups on the Hull

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Exhaust II

After working out the method on the port exhaust flange, making the second one was much quicker on the starboard side.

Hull is ready for the flange.

First, cut circles of 1810 biaxial

I’m using four layers of 1810 biaxial for the flange. Since the Centek exhaust components appear to be no thicker than one or two wetted out layers, the exterior flange should be the toughest part of the assembled piece.

My Wiss 1225 shears make the cutting easier

These scissors make a world of difference when it comes to cutting tough fabrics. They look like they’ve been through a big boat refit, but they’re still cutting well…even after chewing through that Kevlar we used to make the bullet proof cabin top.

The system will eventually look sorta like this

Wetting out the 1810 biaxial for the flange

Once the fiberglass is fully wetted out, I lift it into place on the hull. I’ve already put the blue tape around the hull opening and applied mold release wax carefully to it so the finished part will pop off easily.

Two layers down, two to go.

I wrapped the flange layer inside the pipe on the bottom. On the top, where the pipe sticks out a bit, I applied another strip of wetted out 1810 on the inside that extends out and joins with the outer layer. The finished part should be quite robust.

Once again, I hot coated with homemade fairing compound.

The fairing compound is the same US Composites 635 thin resin thickened with a 1:3 ratio of cabosil and microballoons that we used elsewhere on the boat.

Initially I liked US Composites epoxy, but the more I use the stuff the less I’m impressed. While their 4:1 fast hardener will smoke in the pot in no time on a hot day, it takes way too long to set and a whole lot longer to cure than West System. With US Composites, you can sand the fairing compound the next day IF it’s warm enough overnight. With West in identical conditions, you can start sanding in two hours. If I had to do it all over again, I would have saved a ton of time and money and just bought a barrel of West resin from the start.

The one plus point for US Composites is that if you’re wetting out plywood edges or otherwise trying to seal up a piece of wood, the fact that it takes forever to set and cure seems to allow it to wick in further than West. That’s just a guess though.

Anyway, the following day I popped out the two flanges and continued fitting them.

Nice fit to the hull curve

Before popping the parts off the hull, I drilled the holes so the flanges would bolt up exactly as they were molded. Even without bolts holding the parts in place, they fit right up to the hull.

Nice fit but kinda furry

Ground to a rough finish and ready for the Boatamalans

I used a 5 gallon bucket to trace out the circle…the same bucket I used to outline the 1810 fiberglass fabric. Then I hit it with a grinder and sanded back to the line.

New exhaust system is roughed out.

I need to weld up some 6061 angle and make a platform for the muffler, but otherwise the exhaust system is ready for the paint shop.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Exhaust III, Decommissioning the OE System

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Awl Grip 545 Primer on the Aft Enclosure

Summer was long and hot, which made it virtually impossible to continue with the paint work on the boat. Once we hit August though, temps dropped to the point of being almost unseasonably cool. The goddess of the seas, who I believe has a soft spot for old Chris Craft enthusiasts, was finally cutting me some slack–temps inside the tent were perfect for painting. We took advantage of the break and sprayed the aft enclosure with the final coats of Awl Grip 545 primer.

We initially planned to spray the 545 on the aft deck in May 2013, the weekend after we sprayed the last coat of Awl Quik. But my mother-in-law passed away, then June came in like a blast furnace, followed by all of the work on the aft enclosure coming to a stop when I discovered that the SMIB fabricator who built the enclosure had put a wee bit of twist in several of the panels. It was late July before I finally solved the problem of how to put flat windows into slightly twisted window frames.

Anyway, in the spirit of “better late than never,” it was good to finally get the final primer on the stern.

Finally! Smooth Awl Grip 545 covers the aft enclosure.

The cockpit aft panel turned out very nicely.

With uniform white primer over the whole enclosure, it looked like the time we spent making fillets and fairing the seam where the panels were stitched together was well worth it.

Window frames are looking good.

Chris Craft used a hard inside corner along the curving line at the aft end of the hard top, both of which were cracked on this boat. We ground out the cracks and did a proper fiberglass repair with fillets to reduce stress in the area. I think they look much better than hard corners, too.

Crack repair and fillets look good (upper left corner of the pic above).

Fiberglass window frames integrated nicely into the aft enclosure.

Fillets smooth out the joint and add a nice touch.

Awl Grip 545 on the underside of the hard top.

If you look closely, you can see that even the 545 has a bit of shine to it. The guys did a great job making this all very smooth and uniform. If it shows this well in primer, I can’t wait to see it painted with Awl Craft 2000 Matterhorn white! 🙂

The hatch hole on the bow deck

We found that the area immediately around the hatch on the bow did not follow the smooth crown of the deck. It was slightly lower than it should have been, which would have caused water (and dirt) to collect around the hatch-to-deck seal rather than running off as it would with a proper crown. We applied a bit more of the home-made epoxy fairing compound made from US Composites thin resin thickened with Cabosil and 3m Microballoons in a 1:3 ratio to build up the deck, then longboarded it fair and sprayed Awl Quik before applying the final 545 primer.

Ready for final sanding!

The black paint is a guide coat for the final sanding. Using Mirka Abranet 320 grit disks, we only sand enough to remove all of the black paint. This avoids the problem of putting divots in the faired surface by sanding too much with the dual action sanders. The black paint also helps show pinholes and tiny low spots.

With 545 coating the aft enclosure, helm dashboard and bow deck, we’re ready for final sanding and then paint.

I’m all giddy. 🙂

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Shiny Mahogany Moldings on the Aft Enclosure.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft enclosure windows

With the prep work quickly progressing toward the day when we apply shiny Awl Craft 2000, I started cutting templates for the windows. I’d settled on a window manufacturer in Washington State that uses powder coated aluminum frames. This manufacturer’s design uses a clamp ring on the inside of the boat, with very precisely cut screws that thread into the back-side of the outside window frame. Since there are no screw holes on the outside, which are a common source of leaks, the clamp ring design is far better than most other window designs.

The one hitch with the aluminum-framed windows is that the tolerances are pretty tight: ± 1/16″. For all intents and purposes, there is no way to install these frames onto a structure that isn’t close to perfectly flat. Last week, I discovered that the welder who built my aft enclosure put twist into three of the six panels that have window openings, which induced an arc in the panels along the width of the window openings. The smallest arc had 1/8″ of deflection and the worst had 1/2″ , but all three were more than the 1/16″ tolerance the aluminum window frames could accommodate. This is in addition to the one panel he welded in the wrong place that was so bad I had to cut it off and relocate it a few months ago. Highly paid, incompetent “craftsmen” have been the bane of this refit since Day One…

After determining the aluminum framed windows wouldn’t work, I considered Eisinglass but decided against it for a couple of reasons. The first was that the enclosure was obviously designed with windows in mind, so it would look cobbled together to use Eisinglass. Also, since the whole structure is bonded and faired to the hard top, the last thing I wanted to do was start cutting bits and pieces off or doing other major modifications to already completed work.

Next I looked into fiberglass window frames, but the quote came back at $1300 each (vs roughly $350 each for aluminum) and I need six of them! The fiberglass window manufacturer did say, though, that his windows using tempered safety glass can be formed to an arc. So that got me thinking about a DIY solution that might be just as good and save a bit of money.

Two 20′ pultruded fiberglass I-beams provide the window frame material.

The FRP I-beams measure 2″ x 4″ and are very lightweight and rigid. Step one was to cut the 20′ I-beam into pieces just a bit longer than the window opening dimensions.

Pultruded I-beams cut and marked for size

Slicing the I-beam length-wise yields two T-beams

FRP pultrusions come with radiused inside corners

The radiused inside corners would not allow the T-beam frames to sit tight to the aluminum aft enclosure window openings, which have tight 90* corners. With a little milling, I knocked the radiused corners off.

A Freud top-bearing mortising bit on my Shop Smith made quick work of removing the radius.

With the pultrusions cut into usable T-beams, the next step was to dry fit, mark and cut each piece to make up the horizontal and vertical window frame pieces.

FRP window frames, rough cut and ready for bonding.

Vertical piece on the left, horizontal piece on the right, all rough sanded for bonding.

Nice, tight fit

Kerf cuts in the T-beam reflect the worst arc in the enclosure panel.

The shot above shows the solution to the worst arc the SMIB* welder put in the aft enclosure panel. The T-beam is tight to the window opening from the front edge to about halfway back, after which the window frame and panel curve in. You can see a 1/2″ gap at the lower right corner of the window opening. The arc begins to the left where the first kerf cut is. The kerf cuts allow the outside FRP panel to match the arc of the aluminum panel while still retaining the two-surface bonding area afforded by the T-channel shape. Tempered safety glass can easily be warped to fit and urethane will hold it all together.

*pejorative slang abbreviation for Southern Maryland InBred.

You can never have too many clamps…I need more.

I used US Composites thin epoxy resin thickened with West System 404 adhesive filler to bond the T-channel frames to the window openings. Wooden scraps helped spread the clamping force over wide areas. Covering the wood with shrink tape first helps ensure that the clamp spreaders will release from the epoxy after it kicks.

One down, five to go.

Outside view; two down, four to go.

I removed the clamps and blocks once the epoxy started to take a set, then quickly applied a small fillet around the exterior perimeter of the frame. The fillets are made of the same home-brew fairing compound we used on the cabin top and elsewhere on the boat. It’s based on the same US Composites epoxy resin and hardener as the adhesive, so the fillets make a perfect chemical bond to the adhesive epoxy that squeezed out of the clamped joint. Instead of West 404 adhesive filler, which is brutal to sand, I use a  2:1 ratio of 3M microballoons and Cabosil in the fairing compound to make for relatively easy sanding. The fillets make for a cleaner, more integrated install, just like they did on the cabin top to deck joint and at the helm station dash pod. Fillets also eliminate the seams where dirt can collect.

Unfortunately, this most recent detour from “the plan” took almost an entire week to identify, brainstorm and resolve, and everything else was on hold until I worked it out. I’ve only got so much vacation time I can take in a given year, and I blew five days of it fixing this latest SMIB-inspired problem. Another down-side is that we wanted slider windows for better ventilation but they’re impossible in twisted frames. On the upside, the total out-of-pocket cost for aft enclosure windows just dropped by a significant margin since my labor is free (of course).

Ah well, it’s a boat…they’re all about the compromises, I guess. It sure would be nice, though, to have competent craftsmen whose work is commensurate with the $$$ they charge. So far, the only workers who consistently perform to a high standard are the boatamalan fairing and paint crew. Speaking of which…

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Painting “the shiny” on the cabin top and decks. 🙂