1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Mahogany III

With the helm bulkhead refreshed with a new sheet of mahogany, I got busy on the cabinet on the starboard side of the helm.

1/2″ ribbon-stripe mahogany ply is rough cut for the helm side cabinet faces

Gotta tighten up that gap at the top of the port-side helm cabinet panel a bit

I broke the panels down with 90° cuts a month or so ago when I was racing against rain from a hurricane to get the plywood inside the tent. But the decks aren’t 90° to the bulkhead. They’re angled, so any water that comes in will flow aft and off the boat.

Gotta love the EurekaZone track saw for making angled plywood cuts

That’s better

Before I glued the veneer panel on the helm bulkhead, I was fitting the side cabinet panels

That’s better

That’s better…time for varnish

Second coat

That one-part urethane Spar Varnish is driving me nuts. It gums up the Mirka Abranet 240 grit almost immediately.

MasterMind plunge saw is a great tool for cutting cabinet door openings

Finish the corner cuts with the Makita jigsaw

The jigsaw blades have a bigger kerf than the little plunge saw.

That’s looking pretty good

Time to make a cabinet box frame

That nasty looking piece of cracked, half-painted 1″ thick mahogany must have come from the OEM forward head enclosure. I saved it because I knew it’d come in handy one day.

Today’s that day.

Chopping up 1/4″ ribbon-stripe mahogany plywood into cabinet box parts

No screws this time

I’m framing out the cabinet box with mahogany solid stock wetted out with US Composites epoxy followed by epoxy thickened with wood flour and cabosil

Next day, it’s all coming together

Next, I’ll varnish the cabinet box panel faces, epoxy the backing cleats to each panel, fit and finish the back panels, then this cabinet’s ready to install.

“Progress”

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Mahogany IV

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Mahogany II

The mahogany plywood and solid mahogany are flying into place on the aft deck. One thing that’s been incredibly discouraging to see every single time I go through the aft deck is the mahogany plywood at the dashboard. It’s full of holes from old equipment that won’t be going back on the boat, and there’s no way to bring the face veneer back to a presentable state. But veneers can be tricky, so when I bought the additional stack of Lloyd’s BS1088-rated mahogany ply recently, I included in the order a bunch of 1/8″ ribbon stripe ply for this and other places that need veneer. The odd thing is, this water-proof, boil-proof mahogany marine plywood is ~$66 per 4′ x’8′ sheet. Ribbon stripe mahogany veneer is roughly double that. I’m not smart enough to understand how that works out, but I’m going with the 3mm (1/8″) mahogany plywood for my panel veneer work going forward.

It’s a bit depressing, isn’t it?

Keep in mind, this is what we started with way back in the day

Teak quarter-round isn’t bad

The problem is the big hole they cut in the bulkhead panel for the old autopilot system. The teak quarter-round is basically junk.

That’s some old varnish

Quarter-round is gone

After I cleaned up the joint between the teak deck and mahogany bulkhead, I took some measurements and transferred them to the veneer panel.

Time to dry-fit the veneer plywood

Not bad for the first fitting

Knock the top off so it matches the dashboard height

That EurekaZone track saw is awesome for this kind of stuff. Once the height was right, I used my Makita jigsaw to cut the hole for the steering pump and the relief for the helm dashboard.

That’s more like it

Engine Room CO2 fire extinguisher manual trigger is in the way

First I went to the engine room and disconnected the trigger cable from the release valve. Then I pulled the trigger free.

If you ever wondered how to take these apart…

It’s an elegant piece of hardware

Fire extinguisher cable pull tech, circa 1969

That’s original 1969 varnished mahogany right there

There are some who question horizontal grain orientation of mahogany wall plywood, but I figure if it was good enough for Chris Craft back when it was the #1 powerhouse boat manufacturer on the planet it’s good enough for me.

With all of the hardware out of the way and the bulkhead veneer final fitted, it’s tempting to bust out the varnish, but first I’ve got some wiring stuff to attend to. Once that Whisper Wall headliner gets installed, it’s going to be very complicated running wires up to the helm. Better get that out of the way first.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Wiring

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Transom Panel

I made a bunch of moldings for the V-berth while the salon headliner was being installed, but I want to get a bigger pile of mahogany ready for ICA base coat clear. That stuff stinks, so the fewer times I have to use it the better.

Time to cover up this big, ugly wall of spray foam insulation

Good time to use up half-used tubes of Sikaflex 291

There are two vent chases back here, and Chris Craft never sealed the wooden panels to the hull. All of the panels are edge-sealed with epoxy, so I’m not terribly concerned about rot, but still…keeping water in the chase is better than having it get behind the cabinetry. Sikaflex 291 should seal these seams up just fine.

More vent chase prep

Looking up toward the vent hole

Sikaflex next got applied to the sealing surfaces for the last chase panel

Douglas fir marine plywood chase panel

A while back, I mentioned that I lost a memory card that had all sorts of pictures on it, one series of which was making these chase panels. On the inner face, which you can see above, it’s just plain ol’ Doug fir marine ply. But on the other side, inside the vent chase where water can run down into the bilge, I epoxy-sealed the whole thing and added a layer of light fiberglass just to keep grain cracks under control. These vent chases should be good for the life of the boat.

After installing the Doug fir panels, I epoxy sealed the inner face, too

Next up: finding a pretty mahogany panel in the plywood pile

It’s under there

Looky what we’ve got here!

There’s not that much plywood left. When it’s gone, the project should be pretty much done.

This one ought to do it (this is the B-grade back-side)

EurekaZone EZ-One track saw table is a truly awesome tool

That’s a full 4′ x 8′ sheet of 1/2″ mahogany I’m breaking down in my salon. The saw moves, not the panel, and if you need to do angled cuts…no problem. Just set the track bridge down on your cut marks on either side of the panel, turn on the dust collector and let ‘er rip (or crosscut).

Just like that

Not a bad fit!

Need a little filler panel for the top

That was easy

A little plane work bevels the edge so it’ll seal up tight against the back panel

Booya!

OK. Now I’ve got enough mahogany ready to justify putting myself through the stink of an ICA basecoat application.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: ICA Basecoat on Moldings and the Aft Stateroom Transom Panel

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making the Aft Head Sliding Door Box

In the aft stateroom, the fascia boards are installed and filler panels go all around the perimeter, which is what the Whisper Wall headliner tracks will attach to. The last step is for me to make the box that will hide the slider hardware for the bathroom door. But first, I wanted to thank everyone who has hit the tip jar. I really appreciate it!

I knew this mahogany plywood scrap would end up being useful

There’s always that question: do I keep this scrap or not? I’ve tended to keep scrap plywood, which earlier in the project was a problem because it takes up valuable space. But as I get closer to the end, the scraps have been put to good use and the scrap pile is getting much smaller.

Leftover corner piece is perfect

I think that corner piece was leftover from when I installed the aft stateroom walls. Good thing I saved it!

Looks good!

Not bad

Drilling pocket screws on the backside

Perfect!

The Whisper Wall tracks will go in like this

That’s pretty much a wrap for the prep work to install the headliner tracks. The Whisper Wall installer is on the way.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Stateroom Whisper Wall Tracks

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep

NOTE: If you got two notifications about this article, I apologize. My email subscription provider “updated” his app recently without apparently beta testing it. The new version is completely buggy, so I and many other users have had to switch back to the old version, which, unfortunately, is permanently set to auto update. I published this article this morning, but it doesn’t appear that any notifications were sent out. So I’m trying to republish after having reverted to the old email app. Hopefully, the notifications will go out properly.

The Whisper Wall headliner I’m going to use has tracks that hold the material in place. The perimeter track butts up against walls or other vertical surfaces around each panel, and a separate track is used where the headliner material joins another headliner panel. Which means there need to be horizontal panels for the track to attach to where there are walls around the perimeter. So I’m going to be spending several weekends installing lots of little plywood panels to fill the gaps between overhead frames and give the tracks something to sit on.

The perimeter track is the one on the left

Gaps between frames are all different

The biggest horizontal panel will secure the aft head sliding door track, too.

Good thing I kept this 3/4″ okume plywood scrap

That’s about right

Not bad, but I need to knock a bit off in the middle

Plane it down to the pencil line for a perfect fit

It’s amazing how much trouble 1/32″ too much material across only 2″ in the middle of a 46″ panel can cause. Fortunately, a hand plane knocks that off quickly.

Next, I used my Kreg mini jig to drill pocket screw holes

1″ x 1″ mahogany cleat will secure the panel to the frame

There’s not enough room between the wall panel and frame to use pocket screws, so I’ll use a cleat instead. Everything’s dry fitted and ready to go.

Epoxy seal the top-side of the panel

After wetting out the cleat with epoxy, I applied wood flour-thickened epoxy glue

I clamped the cleat in place and went home. It was cold overnight, so the epoxy hadn’t fully cured by the next morning. But it was enough to hold the cleat in place while I installed the panel.

Next day, the panel is glued and screwed in place

Ready for door and headliner tracks and a valance panel

I’ll install a sliding door track here, but I also need to make a valence panel to hide the track. I’ve got plenty of mahogany in stock for that. The Whisper Wall perimeter track will then butt up against the valence panel for a nice transition from horizontal headliner to a vertical mahogany valence panel.

Does that make sense? It does to me, and I suppose that’s what matters. 😉

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep II

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Final Panel In the Laundry Closet

With the back and side wall and floor in the laundry closet epoxy coated, next I made the top panel that will fill the space between the back panel and the panel around the porthole.

The laundry closet is coming together

I taped off the aft wall in preparation for varnishing later in the day. I need to make the top panel first, which will also be varnished.

Nothing’s square on a boat

The last sheet of marine-grade okume plywood is getting smaller and smaller

Nice fit!

I rounded the “top edge” to a 3/8″ radius

Next, I cut rabbets all the way around

Since electrical, plumbing, and HVAC ducting will run behind the laundry closet back wall, this top panel needs to be removable. The idea is that the panel won’t just sit on top of the back wall panel and mahogany cleats around the opening, it’ll be inset a bit to better ensure a good seal. I want to keep air conditioned air inside the living spaces, and outside air–whether cold or hot–needs to stay outside the air conditioned space.

A router cleans up the rabbet all the way around

At this point I was very happy. The panel fit had been perfect, and the rabbet idea turned out very nice, too. There was just one problem…

I’m an idiot

I didn’t keep track of which side was the top and ended up rounding the bottom and putting a lovely rabbet in the top. The panel only fits one way…it cant be reversed. So…

I made another panel, taking great care this time to keep track of which side was up

The second panel turned out nicely, too

With one coat of Minwax Spar Varnish on the panel, next I applied a coat to the aft wall.

That okume isn’t a bad looking wood

For the inside of a laundry closet, this is turning out pretty nice.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wiring 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: 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