1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the V-berth Hatch Screen Track

With the perimeter of the V-berth ready for the Whisper Wall headliner track to be installed, the last step is to get the supports installed for the hatch sliding screen tracks.

The screen tracks will need a bit of cleaning…some day

Half of the original hatch sliding screen framing is there

Like everything else, the original framing is fine for an OEM-style headliner. But because the Whisper Wall track is 1/2″ tall, I need to add some height to the existing framing and make new framing around the hatch opening.

Kind of like that

Cool Chris Craft switch controls the Kai LEDs

It looks better with the tent support 2×4 out of the way

Another thing I’ve been doing recently is cleaning up all of the stuff that hangs from the ceiling in the boat. The ceiling frames are a great place to stow woodworking clamps and electrical power strips, and I’ve got CAT5 cable for alarm components strung all over. And all of that needs to get relocated so the headliner can be installed.

The slider screen frame will seal up against the headliner with that fuzzy stuff…whatever it’s called

That’s a wrap

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the V-berth Headliner Tracks

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Engine Room LED Lighting

I was looking for the brush for my shopvac and, after checking everywhere else, dropped down into the engine room. After fiddling around with a fluorescent light I keep down there and not finding the brush, I decided to take a break from polishing stainless and install strip LED lights in the ER. The boat originally came with two standard-size 12v incandescent lights, which are more like heaters that just happen to put out some light. The LEDs throw a lot of light everywhere and a great upgrade.

Waterproof 12v LEDs in warm white

Peel back the 2-sided tape protector strip

Scrape off the 2-sided tape at the copper contacts

Tin the copper and the connector wires separately

Solder the wires to the contacts

There are snap-together strip LED connectors for sale, but I’ve never seen one for the waterproof LED version that can maintain a waterproof connection. I’ll apply clear silicone to the soldered areas to make sure the water stays out.

The original engine room light switch

The wimpy light I’ve been using in the ER

The wimpy light illuminates, but barely

Wipe the attachment area clean and firmly press the LED in place

And another, and another…

Much better!

I’ll need to add another strip at the back of the engine room, where I’ll be installing the fuel manifold soon. But for now, I’m satisfied with the lights and happy I won’t be messing around with the fluorescent one anymore.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Still More Chrome!