The aft deck headliner prep is coming to a close. I got the aft deck wiring done. The searchlight is installed. The radio antennas and wiring are done. The helm radio box is looking very fine. Now I’ve just got to wrap up the lighting and speaker wiring and mounting panel installation, and we’re ready for Whisper Wall tracks. Almost.
OEM light fixture is great, but everything else needs help
The pic above was taken before we started on the helm mahogany parts, but it shows what I started with on the OEM light fixtures. The light mounting panels are at the wrong height for Whisper Wall tracks, the switches are in rough shape, and that OEM headliner fragment….well…it’s gotta go. But first…
I’ve been very impressed with Infinity Kappa speakers
Mahogany plywood scrap makes good speaker mounting panel
I’ve wrestled with the “throw it away or keep it” problem for this entire refit, when it comes to wood scraps. Turns out I was right to keep these two!
Ready to install
The attachment cleats have to place the speaker mount plywood face exactly 1/2″ above the frames
Everything that comes through the headliner, like speakers or lights, have to be on exactly the same plane as the headliner. It makes this install more detail-oriented than a standard-type marine headliner. But I think it’s worth it, based on the way the salon headliner, aft stateroom, and V-berth turned out.
Ready for speakers!
Next, I got wooden cleats for the headliner tracks glued and screwed all the way around the perimeter
This is gonna be awesome
MAHOGANY PORN ALERT!!!
While I was admiring my handiwork, the headliner installer popped in and popped my bubble. Turns out overly angular hiccups in the spacers for the transverse overhead frames aren’t pretty when you attach headliner to them. Better to find and fix that now than to live with ugly forever…
Smoothing out some transitions for the Whisper Wall track
While the Whisper Wall guy was on-site, he finished up the last access panel for the salon.
Salon headliner install wasn’t quite done
Now that’s pretty
This panel with the Pearl Ostrich Whisper Wall and foam backing it is a friction fit to the dashboard access hole. But the installer insisted on backing the ends with Velcro. Now you need a putty knife to remove it!
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Headliner Track Prep II
1969chriscraftroamer46 