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

I’m baaaa~~~~ck.

The trip to Japan was great. The kids’ wedding was perfect. I got to see friends from university that I hadn’t seen in 20 years. The food was awesome. Hot springs were awesome. Jet lag was brutal going and coming back, but that’s to be expected.

The Shiba Toshogu Shrine in Tokyo

The wedding happened at the historic Shiba Toshogu shrine, the family shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shogun of Japan and the great unifier who ushered in the relatively peaceful Eido Period. Let’s hope the kids’ marriage works out as well!

Anyway…back to the Roamer refit.

I’ve been working my way toward the stern, first by stalling the back wall and ceiling of the laundry closet. Now I’m working on the storage/AC closet aft of that. The back panel is fitted and the backside of it is insulated. So the next step was to dry-fit the back panel and cut the shelf panels that will enclose the Flagship Marine air conditioning unit.

Framing out the AC shelf

The last piece of 3/4″ okume plywood

Okume isn’t as pretty as mahogany, but it’s marine grade and waterproof. Ideally, there will never be any water in unexpected places inside this AC closet, but if there is the okume will stand up to it better than the cabinet-grade mahogany panels would.

Nice fit!

Next, fit the upper panel support cleats

With the cleats and panels fitted, I removed everything and coated the back panel face.

Coat the back panel face with brown-tinted epoxy

A heavy coat of epoxy levels out pretty well

Next day, wet out the contact areas on the back panel with epoxy

Wet out the backing cleats and apply wood flour-thickened epoxy

Press the panel into position, and wipe up the epoxy that squeezes out

I like working in these smaller spaces. Individual projects wrap up faster when the overall job is smaller. 🙂

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Ducting for the Aft Stateroom Air Conditioner

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Painting Panels in the Laundry Closet

I’ve been thinking about changing platform and starting a Youtube channel. This blog started as a boating forum post way back in late 2007. After the paperwork SNAFU got cleared up in late 2012, I transferred the content to WordPress and started blogging. Like the refit itself, the blogging has been a labor of love so far. But I’ve been thinking it’d be nice if there was some return on the time investment, and Youtube looks like a better monetizing option than a WordPress blog.

There are risks to changing the platform. The time commitment for a Youtube vlog could be a lot more than a photo journal blog. And after the rat bastard thieves burglarized the tent a few years ago, I’ve been very careful taking pictures so I don’t show where the motion sensors for the alarms and surveillance cameras are located. Also, pix don’t show the layout of the boat.  In a video format, I might be giving potential thieves the advantage of knowing the exact layout of the boat and where all of the goodies are located. It’s also entirely possible that I will suck as a Youtuber. lol Seriously though, I try to keep the blog tightly focused on the specific project I’m working on. With Youtube, the presenter’s style seems to be as important (if not more so) than the actual topic of a particular video. I don’t have a video presenter style…I’ve never needed or wanted one. If anybody has thoughts on this or experience with monetized Youtube channels, please comment below.

With that said, I got the walls and floor of the laundry closet painted.

First, I mixed up some brown-tinted US Composites 150 series epoxy

The 150 series epoxy is more viscous than their 635 version, and it’s specifically intended for coating. The missus said she wants brown walls and floor, but she wants a white back panel, so that’s what she’s getting.

Before

After

That lays on pretty well for one heavy coat

The next day, I mixed up some white epoxy and coated the back wall.

Nice!

The reason I’m using epoxy here is that it’s the fastest way to coat panels. I’ve also seen how poorly plywood coatings hold up when only primers and paint are used. Unlike epoxy, which soaks in and binds the grain in a plastic matrix, primers and paint don’t hold together as well, and eventually the grain breaks the coating. I never, ever want to have to touch this again, so epoxy is the way to go. The only weakness for epoxy is that it doesn’t do well in sunlight. But in this laundry closet, there will be very little sunlight. I think the epoxy will do just fine.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Final Panel In the Laundry Closet

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Refurbing the Original Electric Panel II

The face of the original electric panel turned out very nice with that white tinted epoxy. I was tempted not to mess with the backside, since it’s epoxy sealed and will rarely be seen. But when I ordered the white tint and thick, 150 series epoxy resin and hardener from US Composites, I also ordered their brown colorant specifically for areas like this.

Sanded, taped off, and ready for epoxy

That 150 series epoxy really flows out nicely

Great reflection

The port side under-deck panels got coated, too

These Douglas fir panels will be buried behind the built-in settee I’ll build someday, so appearance isn’t a concern. But I think I like the uniform brown better than seeing the unattractive Doug fir grain. In retrospect, a dash of white colorant to lighten up the brown might have been better.

Next day, the tape came off

Good lookin’ panel!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cutting and Fitting More Starboard Salon Plywood Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Refurbing the Original Electric Panel

I’m still working on waterproofing the starboard side of the salon, which has involved remaking a bilge vent duct and fiberglassing the main engine room air inlet duct panel. To gain access there, I removed the original electrical panel and did some repairs to it. Next I sealed it up with white-tinted epoxy.

Back side of the electric panel has been sealed with epoxy

Mahogany sticks were epoxied into the hinge screw holes

Two of the six hinge screws had stripped out the plywood, in part because the two pieces of plywood weren’t epoxied together and the screws were right at the joint between the two panels. I epoxied the two panels together and put mahogany sticks into the screw holes, so the screws will have something solid to thread into.

Back side

With the back side sealed up (but ugly), I mixed up some US Composites 150 series thick epoxy resin and tinted it with their white colorant. I used this approach for the bed foundation in the V-berth, too. The epoxy is a tough coating that works great in places where it’s not exposed to direct sunlight. And the colorant allows me to end up with a shiny coating and sealant in one step…no primer, no additional sanding.

Not bad!

NOS ammeters look great!

The date on the label for these new/old stock Simpson ammeters says 10/62. A 1967 Chris Craft Constellation I used to own had an ammeter just like this in addition to the Simpson voltmeter, and I wanted them on the Roamer, too. I found them on ebay for a good price, and they’re a perfect match to the original voltmeter.

Nice!

The genset hour meter cleaned up well, too.

Bilge pump switches look nice all polished and waxed

Not bad!

I have to box up the meters and switches, flip the panel over, and apply a coat of the 150 series epoxy tinted brown on the backside.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Refurbing the Original Electric Panel II