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

Jul11

The repairs from the big Nor’easter damage in March are finally wrapping up. I’ll write about that soon, but in the meantime I’ve been working on the bilge duct vents that open at the mahogany toe rail. I finally got the last duct in the salon installed. Getting these installed is essential for getting the exterior weatherproof. There are eight vents in total, so I’m half done with them!

To install the duct, I had to remove the starboard muffler

There was just enough space between the muffler platform and the aft ER bulkhead for the duct to slide in and down, then up the vent hole in the ER ceiling/salon floor panel.

The duct passes through that hole

Kinda like that!

I’m getting too old to be spending so much time inside cabinets. I’ll be very happy when this is all done.

That looks about right

It’s a bit tight at the base

You can see on the far side of the duct that rain had leaked from the original duct and rotted out a 1″ spot on the bulkhead and floor panel. That’s why my ducts all pass through the floor by a few inches and drain into the bilge. When I install the duct, I’ll wet out the rotten spot with epoxy and fill it with wood flour-thickened epoxy.

There’s not enough room for the duct face panel

I used my Harbor Freight multitool to open up the hole in the floor to make room for the duct face panel, then removed the duct and coated the last exterior surface with white-tinted US Composites 1:1 epoxy, leaving the contact area with the floor frames bare wood. The following day, I wetted out the bare wood areas and the floor frames and plywood with epoxy. Once that was saturated, I applied wood flour-thickened epoxy to the area and slid the duct into place. Before sliding it home, I applied Sikaflex 291 LOT to the joint area on the underside of the deck.

Sikaflex files the joint and covers the toe rail screws in the area

When I sprayed foam insulation on the hull, I took care to cover all of the toe rail screws with the closed cell foam so water wouldn’t condense on them and work its way up the threads. Water plus aluminum does a bad thing to paint jobs. But I avoided putting foam in areas where I’d be installing ducts. I’m coating these screws with blobs of Sikaflex for the same purpose. I hope it works!

I went a bit nuts with the caulk

The duct is bonded to the floor frames and panels with epoxy and sealed with Sikaflex

Next, I installed the duct face panel

I’m using Sikaflex to seal all of the duct face panels in the salon. I don’t expect they’ll ever have to be removed, but if they do it’ll be easier with Sikaflex than if they were glued with epoxy.

Done!

I considered sanding the duct face and coating it with white-tinted epoxy but decided it was good enough. It’s got a heavy coat of epoxy sealing it up, and that’s what’s most important.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Repairing the Damage from the Big 2018 Nor’easter

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Windshield is Finally Done

Feb5

After a long string of problems, I finally got the last windshield installed at the helm. My windshield trials and tribulations started when I disassembled the original helm windshield and found a bunch of broken bits and pieces. I also had to make new parts to replace the center opening windshield frame, which had been removed and replaced with a sheet of plexiglass by a previous owner. I ordered new tempered glass. Then, just when I had the original windshield ready to paint and reinstall, the bastard thieves burglarized my tent, clearing out many tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools, supplies, and original parts, including several of the heavy windshield frame extrusions. Fortunately, my insurance covered the loss, and I commissioned a new windshield frame. But the fabricator ultimately wasn’t up to the task, and I had to break open the paint to repair damage he caused and to make the boat fit the new frame. With new paint on the hard top and dashboard and the new windshield frame painted in metalic black Awl Grip, things were finally looking pretty good. I ordered new windshields from Motion Windows because their design is absolutely the best in the industry. But, as with the bow seat windows I ordered from them, their design is great but Motion Windows’ execution is a problem. Specifically, they oversized five out of the six windows I ordered. A little bit smaller than specified isn’t a problem, but the worst of the window clamp rings was 3/16″ too big to fit in the window opening. After their first unprofessional, insulting response, I stopped payment and waited to see what they would do. When the boss at Motion contacted me, I explained that it doesn’t matter if you’ve got the best product design in the world if you can’t nail the implementation. We went back and forth a few times before they finally agreed to make new clamp rings to within 1/8″ of my specification. I carefully measured again and then waited. Finally, the new rings arrived…and they were too damned big. But not so ridiculously big that I couldn’t modify them to make them fit. But seriously…are you kidding me?!?!

OK…rant over. Now it’s picture time.

Motion Windows’ frame and trim ring extrusions…a brilliant design

The window frames (the more complex extrusion on top in the pic above) rest inside the window opening. The clamp/trim rings screw into the frame extrusion from inside the window opening, clamping the window into the opening with no screws on the exterior. The extrusion on the right was for the big center opening windshield, and the trim ring stays outside of the window opening. On the left is the extrusion they used for the port and starboard helm windshield frames. The L-shaped portion of the clamp ring where the screws go through fits inside the window opening…unless, of course, the clamp ring is made too big.

The clamp rings arrived nicely wrapped

Lining up a new trim ring with the first one Motion sent

On the far end, you can see how oversized the first ring was: 3/16″ oversized

Some corner welds look pretty good

38-15/16″, just like I ordered

Both of the trim rings had at least one dimension that was exactly as I ordered, which tells me Motion Windows can manufacture their windows accurately.

But other corner welds are relatively big blobs that stick out too far

34-11/16″ (heavy) ≠ 34-9/16″ ±1/16…oversized again!

Trim ring doesn’t fit on a corner of the window opening

It’s frustrating that, once again, Motion Windows oversized the trim rings. The weld blobs were a problem before, too, with the bow seat windows. If they’d just dress them a bit with a grinder, as they clearly do with the weld along the face of the extrusion, I suspect the rings would fit fine. So I took a cutoff wheel to the new trim, breaking open the brand new powder coat in the process. That gives aluminum oxidation a place to start, but what else can I do?

I cringe when I break open brand new, perfect aluminum coatings to fix manufacturing flaws

Corner #1 shaved

and #2

And #3

With the corners shaved, the trim fits in the hole. I quickly applied Sikaflex to the bare aluminum. Hopefully, that will keep oxidation from loosening up the powder coat.

The helm window frame has been taped and ready for window install for almost two months

A generous application of Sikaflex 291 LOT on the window frame

Flip the window into the opening, then squeegee off the caulk that squeezes out

A dab of Sikaflex on each clamp ring screw should help keep the aluminum sealed as the stainless screws drive home

A dab of Sikaflex on the trim screws helps keep the aluminum sealed as the screws drive home

Pulling the tape

Looks good!

Final wipe down cleans up the last of the Sikaflex

Oh…one last thing

Much better

Finally, the helm windshield is done!

The lesson learned here is that Motion Windows has an excellent concept for their windows, but they consistently oversize their product with sloppy cuts and blobby welds. Maybe they’re better with windows that only have 90° or radiused corners. Either way, I’m glad the windows are finally in and I can put a check in that box. Once I fill a few more holes, I’ll be able to wash the boat since she’s looking pretty sad from all the dust. In the mean time, I’ve got to keep moving forward if we’re going to splash later this year.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Exhaust V

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Porthole Screens

Jan8

If I’m going to splash the boat in 2016, I need to get it water-tight. That means I’ve got to get windows installed. Last year I did a lot of work bringing the hateful portholes back from the dead. They turned out pretty good once they were painted, but what a bunch of work. Now I need to install the screens in them in preparation for the new tinted glass I’ll be ordering soon.

Shiny portholes are ready for re-assembly

You’d think that factory-made portholes would be cookie-cutter affairs…all the parts are cast in the same molds, then drilled and tapped one after the other in the same fashion. But if you thought that, as did I, then you’d eventually find yourself as frustrated as I was when I tried to reassemble the pretty portholes.

It turns out that the castings are all the same and the big holes are all the same, but the small holes around the perimeter of the glass flange and screen flange were drilled only in the same general location. Each flange only fits its original porthole. Having assumed they were all the same, I didn’t mark them on disassembly. With 12 portholes and two flanges each, the screen flange can be oriented two different ways, and 20 screw holes per flange that all need to be checked for fit, let’s just say it was a tedious afternoon sorting them out. Some of them would have a perfect fit for 18~19 holes, but somebody on the line hiccuped on the last hole and put it 1/16″ off. So…out come the screws and try it again on the next porthole.