1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Aft Storage/HVAC Closet

Things have been very busy recently, and I’ll be taking a few weeks off of the blog to go to the other side of the planet for my younger son’s wedding. But before I go, I wanted to post updates of the aft cabin storage/HVAC closet.

With the laundry closet close to done, next is the storage closet

First, fit 1″x 1″ mahogany cleats for the back panel

Cleats on both sides

Next, pull the 12ga 240v cable for the marine air conditioner and 14ga cable for the 120v transom outlets

Next, dig into the shrinking plywood stack and pull out the last 1/4″ Douglas fir panel.

Marking off the back panel

First try didn’t work

I thought I’d be able to remove small cutouts so I could pivot the panel into place around the thruhull and hull framing in this area. Unfortunately, the angle of the thruhull makes it impossible to pivot this panel in place. So I ended up cutting the lower left corner clean off.

With the corner gone, the panel pivots into place

Next, cut a small panel to fill in the corner

That’s sufficiently tight

If the panels fit too tightly, they don’t pivot into place.

Next, cut some Buffalo Batt insulation to fit

Wet out the panel with epoxy

And lay on the insulation

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Aft Storage/HVAC Closet Back Panel

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: Fitting the Laundry Closet Ceiling

With the electrical work started and other prep done in the aft stateroom laundry closet, next I got busy cutting and fitting the overhead ceiling panel. In all of the open areas in the salon, galley, v-berth, and aft stateroom, I’ll use Whisper Wall material as the headliner. But in the bathrooms and closet spaces, I’m going with 1/4″ Doug fir marine plywood that’s painted on the visible face and insulated on the back-side.

The last sheet of 1/4″ marine ply was on the bottom of the stack

The plywood stack is like a progress-o-meter. If I’ve calculated materials right, I’ll run out of mahogany ply on the last bit of cabinetry. I’m down to six sheets of 1/2″ and two of 1/4″.

Measuring the overhead width

It’s a boat…nothing’s square. I find I get the best fit in this sort of situation if I use two sticks to gauge the actual distance, then measure the sticks with a tape.

Laying out the cut lines

Rough cuts are done…time to see if it fits

Very close…but not quite there

The aft deck is angled down a bit heading aft, and the ceiling here isn’t square. What I found is that the panel doesn’t come close to fitting if I insert it leading edge first…or any other edge, for that matter. But it almost slides right into place if I put the aft outer corner in first, then slide the aft inner corner most of the way home, and then push the inner edge up into place. But the outer forward corner was getting hung up.

Need to knock off a bit there to get the angles matching

It was still a bit tight along the leading edge of the panel when I tried to fit it again.

Shaving off a bit on the aft edge should do the trick

So close, but yet so far…

A bit more trimming, and it slid right into place.

Boom

Mark off the backside for epoxy and insulation

Saturate the panel with epoxy

Lay on the Buffalo Batt insulation, and press it in place

With all of the insulation I’m using and with the interior spaces almost completely isolated from the hull envelope, this boat should be very comfortable temperature-wise all year round.

Unfortunately, I’m a clown sometimes

I forgot to mark off gaps for the overhead frames before laying on the epoxy and insulation. So after the epoxy cured I had to remove strips of insulation so the panel would seat on the frames. On the upside, I now have tested the stability of the panel-epoxy-nonwoven insulation fabric bond and found it to be (irritatingly) robust. That stuff’s never coming off on its own!

I had to remove one more strip of insulation at the marks, then it was done

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: More Progress in the Laundry Closet

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Back Into the Aft Stateroom

With the mahogany panel work in the V-berth done, I headed back into the aft stateroom and started work on the laundry closet.

Back into the laundry closet after 18 months

The panel edges don’t line up

The top edge of the 3/4″ plywood wall panel is parallel to the floor, but the bottom edge of the mahogany porthole surround panel is parallel to the porthole openings, which appear to be at an angle that matches the  aluminum side deck. I don’t know how a professional woodworker would resolve this issue, but I decided to make a fancy mahogany cleat to attach to the bottom edge of the porthole surround panel.

This will make a fine cleat

I’m glad I kept most of the original mahogany bits and pieces when we disassembled the interior back in 2008. It’s come in very handy as I put it all back together.

First, I cut a deep 1/4″ slot

The Sharpie marks on the porthole surround panel align with the top of the 3/4″ wall panel

Align the corresponding marks on the cleat with the cutting edge of my track saw

Angled cuts are a breeze with the EZ-One track saw table

The back panel cleat is done

Next, I cut holes for the electrical outlets

Then I put in a run of 8/4 electrical cable

I decided to run 50 amp 240v service to a breaker sub-panel for the washer, dryer, and aft stateroom AC unit.

There’s enough room in the OEM wiring conduit

The breaker sub-panel will go there

After measuring the dryer, I also had to cut a section out of the back wall to make space for the vent duct. I’ll box in that area soon.

Holes cut

Nice view into the engine room

Breaker panel fits well

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the Laundry Closet Ceiling

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

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Still Inside the Starboard Salon Cabinetry

I’m getting close to wrapping up the ‘behind the scenes’ cabinetry in the salon. By which, I mean the installation of the plywood panels that are insulated on the back-side with Buffalo Batt non-woven fabric. The port side is already done, as is most of the starboard side. There are just two more panels I need to install in this area, and I wrapped up the framing for one of those, then cut the panel and insulated it in my last article. Once that’s done, I can move on to completing the aft stateroom bilge vents and surrounding cabinetry, at which point the topsides will be almost weatherproof.

The next panel needs to fit against the new mahogany cleats AND that engine room blower outlet

But first, the blower outlet needs some work

The barrier coat Chris Craft used here didn’t hold up long, probably because it appears none of the aluminum was sanded or otherwise prepped for paint.

The white powder is aluminum oxide, and there’s lots of it

The top and bottom screws securing the base plate to the welded-in outlet came out just fine. The left and right screws…not so much.

My Harbor Freight Dremel-style tool helped with screw removal and surface prep

More aluminum oxide under the screw head

Second screw comes out the same way

Once the screws were out, I continued cleaning up the mating surface and interior of the vent outlet until all of the aluminum oxide was gone and exposed aluminum was sanded bright.

Customized acid shop brush will help apply the epoxy inside the outlet

The hooked brush will allow me to paint the interior of the exhaust duct.

White-tinted epoxy coats the duct outlet inside and out

Next, I cut the hole in the panel for the ER blower

I messed up on the order of operations here. I should have cut the hole and done the final fitting of the panel before I insulated the backside. That Buffalo Batt insulation makes panel cutting much more difficult than it needs to be. Major rookie move…

Ready to test fit

Looks good

Next, I removed the panel, epoxied the edges, wetted out the mahogany backing cleats, and applied Sikkaflex 291 LOT sealant to the vent duct mating surface. In the interim, I’d also finished installing the last starboard salon duct, which you can see to the right of the pic below.

Glued, screwed, and clamped in place

I only have one more insulated ceiling panel to cut and fit inside this cabinet, and this part is a wrap. Making the pretty mahogany cabinet interior can come later and will be relatively easy, since I won’t have to spend so much time cramped up inside the cabinet.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Starboard Salon Cabinetry

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Back Into the Starboard Salon Cabinetry

With Tent Model XXX transformed back to pre-2018 Nor’easter condition, I got back into the salon cabinets…like, literally. There were a couple of parallel projects happening back when I installed the last bilge duct in the salon, one of which was fitting the panels that form the insulated envelope between the boat interior and the hull. This isn’t very sexy work, but the results of having a fully insulated interior will be a happy missus…and that’s priceless.

Back inside the salon cabinet!

The view inside before the duct was installed

I installed a mahogany cleat on the floor to give a wall panel something to seat up against.

Ready to glue and screw in place

Next, I had to make a cleat to run up the left side of the panel. It’s complicated by some funky angles going on in here.

The cleat will attach to the vertical aluminum frame that the engine room vent panel butts up against

The cleat cut to length

Next I need to cut a rabbet of decreasing depth.

Gotta love the EZ-One Track Saw for this kind of stuff

Drilled and ready to install

Glued, screwed, and clamped in place

Before epoxying the cleats in place, I cut the wall panel

 

Then I cut a piece of Buffalo Batt insulation for the back-side

Saturate the back of the panel with epoxy, then apply the insulation

Press the insulation in place and go home

Next day, cut the cabinet interior overhead panels

Lay out and cut the second panel

Test fit…looks good!

Cut and fit the insulation

Wet out the panels and lay on the insulation on the backside of one

Keep applying epoxy to the face of the other panel until it doesn’t take anymore

Lay heavy stuff on the insulation and go home.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Still Inside the Starboard Salon Cabinetry

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Salon Aft Bilge Vent Duct II

Slowly but surely, I’m getting closer to having the Roamer weatherproofed. There are eight bilge vents that exhaust through the mahogany toe rail. Three of the vent ducts are done in the salon, and I’m getting close to finishing the last one there.

The duct box is glued and screwed together

I just need to sand down the OEM sealing coat on the mahogany and it’ll be ready for fiberglass.

Fully saturate the interior and all exposed edges with epoxy

It’s always amazing to me how much resin these things soak up. Next…you guessed it…

Fillets!

I do love my fillets.

Next, I laid on the fiberglass cloth and rolled out the bubbles

I also sealed the duct face panel with a heavy coat of epoxy

Leave it and come back the next day

Next morning, trim off the excess fiberglass overhanging the edges

Not a bad looking vent duct

I decided to seal up the exterior surfaces of the duct with white tinted US Composites 635 epoxy. I’m using the 2:1, no-blush hardener for all of this. Even during the roasting hot summer, it’s got a pretty long pot life and it cures by the following morning.

I do like a heavy coat of that tinted epoxy

For places that have zero UV exposure, epoxy as a sealant and tinted top coat is a good approach.

Next day, I put a coat on the duct wall and another one on the electrical panel

That sure did turn out nice

With sticky epoxy in the salon, I got to work on some things in the V-berth. It’s been a while since I was in there, and I look forward to wrapping that room up.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Starboard Salon Aft Bilge Vent Duct

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Salon Aft Bilge Vent Duct

Repairs from the big Nor’easter damage are just about done. I’ll be writing about that soon, but while the repairs are happening I’ve been continuing the work to weatherproof the boat.

There are six bilge vent ducts that exit at the mahogany toe rail, and two more on the transom. Chris Craft used a combination of pressboard and solid mahogany boards to make the ducts in the salon and at the transom, but pressboard was a horrible choice for a place that’s directly exposed to weather and spray. Of course, Chris Craft wasn’t building the boats to last forever, and pressboard is cheap and easy to work with. It was probably a decade or more before the ducts started deteriorating, by which time the warranty had long-since run out. The problem for fans of old boats is that once the ducts deteriorate, the leaking water takes out the cabinetry and floors in the area. I’ve used a couple of approaches on the ducts, but the one I think is best has been to use the original design, but with fiberglassed and epoxy sealed 1/4″ marine plywood instead of pressboard. It takes a lot longer to make each duct, but I won’t have to worry about them falling apart in ten years. The last thing I want is to have to do ANY of this work again. 😉

I’ve been spending a lot of time inside this cabinet

Inside and aft is where the bilge vent duct goes

The round pipe is the bilge blower outlet. The starboard salon rear duct was completely rotted out, so I’ll have to make the whole thing.

1/4″ marine ply and solid mahogany duct boards

That ought to work

Looks good

Test fit the plywood panels

Chris Craft ran the ducts just down to the salon floor, and they didn’t seal the edges of the plywood floor there. So when rain, spray, or water from washing the boat went down the ducts, it would seep into the edge of the plywood. The wood was slightly soft in spots but otherwise in pretty good shape, so I saturated the area with epoxy until it wouldn’t soak up anymore. I’m also running the ducts all the way to the bottom of the floor frames, so water will drop straight into the bilge. I’m hopeful this will fully resolve all of the problems with Chris Craft’s approach.

The top edge needs trimming to match the angle of the deck

EZ-One track saw makes it easy to cut panels at odd angles

Test fit looks good

Screw holes got drilled and countersunk

Marked off and ready for epoxy

Cutting the fiberglass for the duct cover panel

Wetted out with epoxy, then topped with epoxy glue thickened with wood flour

Screwed together and clamped square

The duct cover panel is behind the duct, wetted out with epoxy and topped with a fiberglass layer. Once the epoxy cures, I’ll put a layer of fiberglass inside the duct and it will be ready for assembly.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Salon Aft Bilge Vent Duct II

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cutting and Fitting More Starboard Salon Plywood Panels

Repairs from the big Nor’easter are proceeding apace, with several hiccups being tossed in the mix by the surveyor and insurance company, which hasn’t paid the claim yet. There’s a narrow weather window for painting the boat between freezing early spring and roasting hot late spring/summer, so I’ve had to self-fund the repairs to get them done during that window. Fortunately, we’ve had a longer stretch of relatively cool weather than usual, with plenty of days where the temps don’t go above 70°F, and the repairs are going well. All this effort just to get back to where I was before the big storm came…it’s discouraging. Anyway, I’ll post pix of the repairs before long.

While all of that’s been going on, I’ve been continuing the work of sealing up the starboard cabinetry in the salon.

Inside the starboard salon cabinetry

I’m trying to make sure there’s an insulated envelope inside the boat so it will be more comfortable and energy efficient in summer and winter. I’m doing that by insulating the backside of each plywood panel that faces the hull and making sure that none of the hull or decks are exposed to the air-conditioned interior space. So I need to install ceiling panels here under the side deck, just like I did on the port side. On the inboard side, the original cabinetry offers a good landing spot for a ceiling panel, but there’s nothing on the outboard side. I already installed one short panel above the ER main air vent, which you can see in the pic above, that will serve as the wall to which the ceiling panel attaches. Next I cut another short, upright panel from a bulkhead scrap panel I saved when we were doing demolition a decade ago when the refit began.

Old-school marine plywood

It’s a dirty old panel, but the wood is in great shape.

Marine-grade Douglas fir was a lot different 50 years ago than it is today

Glued and pocket screwed in place

I’ll coat it with tinted epoxy when the job is done.

Mahogany cleat recycled from the original toe rail

Back-side of the ceiling panel gets wetted out with epoxy

Buffalo Batt insulation adds R3 insulation value to the panel

Mahogany cleat is glued and screwed in place

Et voila! Good fit!

The next step here will involve removing the ceiling panel and sealing the face with epoxy before finally installing it. I have more ceiling panels to make in here, but I first need to make a new aft bilge vent duct and wall panel to attach them to.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Salon Aft Bilge Vent Duct