1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the V-berth Bed Foundation Panels

Getting the V-berth done will be a major milestone on the way to finally finishing this project. I’ve been cutting and dry-fitting all of the cabinetry around the bed foundation, then I disassembled it all, and sealed and insulated the back-side of each panel that faces the hull. Next, I have to glue and screw all of the parts together all while making sure I’ve left space and access for HVAC, electric, and plumbing lines.

Start by roughing up contact points, then gluing and screwing 1″ x 1″ mahogany cleats

4″ insulated HVAC duct looks like it will fit just fine

Cleats are glued and screwed

Bed shelf cleats are next

White-tinted epoxy seals the face of the forward cabinet wall

Port side wall goes in next

Next day, the shelf is ready to be installed

Looks about right

This shelf opening also acts like a hatch, providing access to the frames and bilge where the stem transitions to the keel.

Slide the base panel in diagonally, then rotate into place

That’s a very snug fit, which is exactly what I want here.

Line up the rabbets that the wall panels slide in…

…and push the panels into place

The HVAC vent will go here in the top panel

Next, I glued and screwed in the last port-side upright panel

Done for the day!

That went together rather well. With sticky epoxy everywhere, I called it a day.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing More V-berth Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Prep on the V-berth Bed Foundation Panels

With the last of the bed foundation panels cut and dry fitted, I have just a bit of prep work to do before taking the whole thing apart and then doing the final installation.

White colorant makes epoxy a nice interior sealant/topcoat

I’m using US Composites thick epoxy resin and 2:1 hardener to seal the backs and sides of each panel. The 2:1 hardener has a very long pot time, which gives the mixed epoxy more time to saturate into each panel. I add white colorant (also from US Composites) for the top coat on the visible faces of panels. I found that with West System epoxy, there’s always a bit of blush (a somewhat sticky substance that forms on the surface of the epoxy) left behind. But the US Composites 1:1 and 2:1 hardeners leave no detectable blush. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper than West.

One heavy coat yields a shiny sealed surface

Next day, the side panels are ready to install

Minwax Helmsman Spare Urethane clear gloss is my new favorite brushing varnish

This Minwax product brushes out really nicely, and keeps a wet edge longer than their spar varnish product. It also cures a lot faster and seems more scratch resistant than the varnish.

This is the top panel for the shelf box I built recently

Epoxy bonds the panel to the cleats

Buffalo Batt non-woven fabric provides R3 insulation on the back-sides

Press the Buffalo Batt into the epoxy that seals the backside, then go home

Once the epoxy cures, the bed foundation panels are all ready for final installation. It’s taking longer than I expected (as usual), but I’m making good progress.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the V-berth Bed Foundation Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: More V-berth Cabinetry

While building out the V-berth, I’ve had to think ahead to electrical, plumbing, and HVAC issues I didn’t flesh out in the original concept drawings. I need to make sure that what I’m building today will work with all of the systems I need to install. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to install these systems now as I build out the space. I also need to make sure that hatches are in all the right places for access should I ever need to do maintenance or repairs behind the cabinetry. The forward bulkhead and bed foundation upright wall were a big challenge, but I think my solution works and looks pretty good.

Prepping the forward bed foundation upright panel for yet another dry fit

The big circular hole on the left is for the insulated air conditioning duct. I centered the rectangular opening for the cabinet shelf in the panel, but had to “adjust” the right side so the pretty mahogany panel that fits there doesn’t interfere with a structural member on the forward-most bulkhead. The idea here is to make a cabinet shelf for the V-berth bunk where there will be a 120v outlet for a clock, plus 12v and USB outlets. But I want the shelf and its walls to be removable for access to the keel as well as the air conditioning vent connections.

Looking through the rectangular opening as installed

The 1″ x 1″ mahogany cleat on the bulkhead is what the shelf base will rest on.

Rabbets will allow side panels to slide in and out

Something like this

The top and base panels have rabbets that the wall panels slide in

The base panel goes in diagonally…

Then you rotate it and align the rabbets with the sides of the rectangular opening

Next, slide in the 1/4″ mahogany side panel

The panel slid smoothly before I applied a coat of varnish. With one coat it tightened up quite a bit. I’ll need to open up the rabbets just a bit to make space for additional coats of varnish.

Not a bad fit…needs some trimming on the bottom back edge

1/2″ panel on the starboard side where the power outlets will be

Not bad!

After a bit of trimming and the second coat of varnish

I also added a mahogany cleat on the bulkhead that will support the wall panel vertically. You can see the cleat in the pic above.

Zero gaps and a very slight friction fit

I’ll tack a molding around the rectangular opening eventually. To remove the panels, just pop off the moldings and slide out the side and bottom panels.

“Draft proof” electrical box must be removed to pull the wall panel

Final dry fit

30 seconds later, the shelf panels are out

That’s the last of the cabinetry that needs to be dry fitted before it all gets sealed up and installed.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Prep on the V-berth Bed Foundation Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Sealing and Insulating V-berth Panels

I’m still plodding along in the V-berth. Sealing all sides and insulating the back-side of all panels that face the hull adds a lot of time to the process, but we think it will be worth it in the end.

Mastermind fine kerf plunge saw is great for cutting hatches in panels

The laser on the saw isn’t very useful since it doesn’t perfectly align with the blade. But the metal guide that comes with it works well. With a 1/16″ kerf, it makes nice, tight hatches.

Jigsaw finishes the cuts in the corners

48-year old coating needs to come off

These panels were originally the V-berth bed foundations. Some water had come in through the hatch and ruined the sealer coat, but the wood underneath is in great shape.

Old school marine plywood

It took a lot of epoxy to fully wet out the back-side

The old plywood just kept drinking up the epoxy. It took four coats before it was finally saturated. Then I applied the hatch frames and Buffalo Batt insulation.

Press the insulation into the epoxy and go home

Next day, looks good!

Ready to paint the front side

Nice insulation!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Helm Windshield Opener Cover

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Marine Air Conditioners

The V-berth cabinetry is coming along nicely, but as it transitions from concept drawings to reality, it’s become apparent that I need to pay close attention to certain details…like electric and raw water supply, as well as ducting for the air conditioners and heat. While building the V-berth closet, I initially planned on putting a 6,000BTU AC unit up on a shelf. But after looking into marine air conditioners, I decided to go with a 9,000BTU unit that could also help cool the galley. That’s when I realized it would be better to put it in the “desk-like structure,” on the other side of the room. That meant I’d have to relocate the wiring…I wish I’d done that before making the V-berth head. I’d also have to build a robust shelf in the “desk-like structure,” and I might as well go ahead and choose the specific models I want since the unit needs to fit in the space.

After reading a bunch of brochures and reviews, I decided to go with either Marinaire or Flagship self-contained units. Marinaire sells quite a few units through ebay and their pricing is by far the lowest around. They apparently had problems with earlier models that used aluminum tubing in the evaporators, which rotted out fairly quickly. The current models have copper tubing, and reviews are generally good. Marinaire are manufactured in China, and use proprietary controls that can be quite expensive to replace if they go out.

Flagship is an American company that uses American-supplied materials, off-the-shelf HVAC controls, expansion valves for refrigerant “throttle” rather than capillary tubes, and a very slick angled condensate tray under the evaporator so the tray drains and dries rather than staying wet all the time. The feet for each component stay dry that way, as compared to Marinaire and other manufacturers that use the unit base as the drip tray, and everything gets wet. The spreadsheet below summarizes each one.

Unlike the bang-for-the-buck table I made when deciding on insulation, this isn’t as straightforward. On a simple BTU per buck basis, Marinaire is the clear winner. But there are a many features that one manufacturer offers that the other doesn’t. Marinaire has a dehumidifier function, for example, while Flagship doesn’t. But Flagship offers built-in resistant heater coils, while Marinaire only has reverse cycle. In my area, reverse cycle heat is only useful for about six weeks per year, then we have to haul oil-filled radiators onboard. Built-in heat would be nice. Where the two manufacturers have different approaches to specific issues, like capillary tubes vs expansion valves or rifled, thin-wall heat exchangers vs thick, smooth-walled, Flagship was the clear winner on every point. Since I never want to have to replace an air conditioner again, Flagship’s commercial/military-grade approach ultimately led me to go with their products. The new units should arrive in six weeks.

Marine Air Conditioner comparison
BTU	Marinaire	Model	Flagship	Model
9	$1,195	MSBA9K2	$1,850	FM9R, TOP 1.7kw heat, 230v
11	$1,365	MSBA11K2
12			$1,850	FM12R, SIDE, 1.7kw heat, 230v
16	$1,515	MSBA16K2
18			$1,949	FM18R, TOP, w/ 2.0kw Heat, 230v
Shipping	$175
Total	$4,250		$5,649
Drip tray	316SS wet		304SS dry
Refrig. Control	Cap. tube		Txv
Tstat	Included		Included (but I can supply my own)
Compressor	Toshiba		Matsushita
Mode	AC		AC only
Heat	rev cyc		Resistant
Dehumidifier	Yes		—
Noise	sound shield (44db)		48db
Air outlet	Rotating		Fixed
Controller	Proprietary		Off-the-shelf
Hex	Rifled, thin		smooth, thick
Gauges	Hi & Lo		extra

Digging into the “Throne Room: wiring

1-1/2″ PVC pipe works as a wire chase

This isn’t the most elegant solution, but it works and keeps the wire run much shorter than going around the perimeter of the V-berth.

AC and 12v DC lines are relocated to come out under the “desk-like structure”

Building robust structure for the shelf

And then the step up for the AC shelf

That will do

I cut that shelf panel from a sheet of 1″ thick marine plywood that Chris Craft used for the original V-berth bathroom bulkhead. I’ve kept a big sheet of it since we disassembled the boat back in 2008 knowing it would come in handy somewhere. I’ll sand the ugly paint off of it and seal it in epoxy before the final installation. But first, I need to disassemble the all of the cabinetry I’ve been building, epoxy seal and insulate the backsides, and get it installed. The project would go quicker if I didn’t seal everything and insulate, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Sealing and Insulating V-berth Panels

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: V-berth Cabinetry Corner Molding

The V-berth is coming along pretty well. I’ve got almost all of the mahogany panels cut and fitted, the closet is done, and so is the bed foundation. I’ve also got all of the panels for the “desk-like structure” cut and fitted, so next I need to make a complex molding for the corner where several panels join together in all three axes and at different angles. I don’t do this for a living, and it’s been hot as can be this summer (and worse in the tent), so it was very challenging making this piece.

The “desk-like structure”

As time goes on, this “desk-like structure” is looking more and more like an air conditioner cabinet. I need to make a molding that joins the two vertically oriented panels with the horizontal one.

The basic molding shape

I find it’s much better on working drawings to use the angles that correspond to the saw gauge than to use the actual geometric angles. On all of my saws, 90° is 0°, so the 20° noted in the drawing would be 70° in conventional geometry.

Truing up a mahogany stick

Cutting a square groove

Two passes through the saw

Four passes…

Five passes and done

Nice fit for 13mm mahogany plywood

Next, I need to route a slot at an angle…never done that before

Turns out my little Bosch router has a tilt attachment

Looks like this will work

One full pass…looking good

Full depth pass…that looks good, too!

After one more pass at full depth, the second slot was done

That’s looking as I imagined

Next, I marked the molding for the next slot that the horizontal panel will fit into.

Just like that…

Nice!

Next, I removed some material with my band saw

That ought to do it

I’m using the bandsaw because this cut won’t go all the way to the far end of the molding, and the cut needs to be straight through the material. The molding needs to be full-size at the bottom, from the horizontal panel to the floor. But there’s no  need to have the extra material up higher.

Rough cuts done

3/4″ and 3/8″ round router bits will smooth off the corners

Getting closer

Getting better

Mini drum sander on a rotary tool helps clean up the rounded corners

Sanded with 120 grit…looking OK!

Sweet!

Done!

See the sweat stain thumb print in the middle of the molding? Yeah…it’s that hot in the tent. It feels cool when I go outside on 90°F days.

While making the molding, I noticed that as I finished each step I got more and more nervous about making subsequent cuts. Mahogany isn’t cheap, but if I screw up on the first couple cuts I can just cuss myself out and pull another stick from the stack. After getting the basic shape done, it’s not just a stick any more! Having spent the better part of six hours working on it, I was being very, very careful on the last operation drum sanding with my Harbor Freight rotary tool. That thing removes material fast! But in the end, I think it turned out pretty good!

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Marine Air Conditioners

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Even More V-berth Cabinetry IV

I’m still making good progress on the V-berth, cutting and fitting at least one panel with each trip to the yard. I’ve also been spending lots of time spec’ing out marine air conditioners and thinking about duct routing. I don’t want to get a cabinet done and then have to rip in and relocate it to accommodate ducting.

The V-berth “desk-like structure”

With the “desk-like structure” roughed out,  and all of the V-berth bed foundation vertical panels cut, now I can cut the last of the top panels and the 1/4″ ribbon striped mahogany plywood that will top all of that.

Sticks and a hot glue gun help make another template

Transfer the pattern to the plywood and start cutting

Looking good!

Figuring out the orientation of the top panels for the ribbon-striped mahogany

I think I’ve got just enough of the ribbon stripe panel leftovers to finish up the room. It’s going to be close.

Tracing the panel shape onto the ribbon-stripe ply

Because of the bevel cuts in the plywood, I have to be really careful to make the top surface of the ribbon-stripe panels stick out farther than the fir plywood.

Pretty good fit! Just needs a little trimming

Tendonitis is slowing me down a bit…but that’s a nice fit to the curvy side wall

Brushed a few coats of varnish on the underside of the desk-like structure

Cutting the last ribbon-stripe mahogany panel

Talk about cutting it close… I don’t have any more ribbon stripe scraps left over that are big enough to finish this last panel. If I mess up the cuts, I’ll have to buy more.

Man…that’s close

Hand plane helps knock off just a teensy bit of material on the bevel for a nice fit

My new favorite jigsaw blades: Bosch T234X

These bad boys cut a very nice line and are super sharp. The alternating blades leave a very clean V on the leading edge of the cut (you can see it in the pic above). Just line the tip of one side of the V up to the pencil line and go, then test fit the panel and sand any high spots back.

Boom

With all of the V-berth bed foundation and desk-like structure panels cut and dry fitted, next I need to make a complicated molding to hold one joint together, then disassemble the whole thing in preparation for insulating the back-side, sealing the edges, base coat refinishing, and final assembly.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: V-berth Cabinetry Corner Molding

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Even More V-berth Cabinetry III

The scorching hot, humid summer continues making it difficult to work on the cabinetry in the V-berth, but I’m making progress nonetheless. I now have the “desk-like structure” roughed out. I also used my Harbor Freight auto darkening welding helmet to take pix of the eclipse that happened yesterday. It was only 81% covered, but still it was kind of cool.

Mid-Atlantic eclipse, 2017

The V-berth concept

Time to make a “desk-like structure”

Sticks and a hot glue gun help make the pattern

The V-berth cabinetry has been particularly challenging, what with all of the curves and angles. I’ve had good results from using small sticks and a hot glue gun to capture the curves and angles and transfer them onto mahogany plywood.

Clamps hold panels in place

Clamping to framing squares helps keep everything square

With the panels dry-fitted in place, I marked off where to cut the vertical wall panel.

Bed foundation vertical wall panel is bevel cut to size

 

Nice!

Make sure the vertical wall panel is square

Mahogany solid stock will back up the joint

Next, I transferred the stick template to mahogany plywood

Bevel cut and a near-perfect fit!

If anybody noticed the runs in the ICA clear coat on the curvy wall panel, that’s just the base coat. It will all get sanded smooth with 320 grit before the entire room is sprayed with ICA top coat.

Cut off the front edge

EZ-One track saw bridge guides the router for cutting edge rabbets

I also cut matching rabbets in the two vertical panels for the “desk-like structure”.

Very nice rabbet joint

The other side

Good lookin’ “desk-like structure”

The “desk-like structure” base protrudes just enough to give a step up for climbing into bed

It feels really good to have the concept turn out as well as it appears to be going. As I’ve been cutting all of these panels, I’ve been rethinking my plan for air conditioning. I initially thought I’d put a small self-contained unit up high on the shelf in the V-berth closet. But the more I think about it, it makes more sense to install it inside the “desk-like structure.” I’ve also been thinking about going with a chilled water system rather than self-contained. It’s a lot more money, but there are some benefits, too. All of this air conditioning stuff has also gotten me thinking about how to provide access behind major panels up here. I think the ideas I’ve come up with will work out OK. Time will tell.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Even More V-berth Cabinetry IV

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Paint Repair

While working on the V-berth joinery, I’ve been getting up close and personal with the porthole openings there. And the more I saw, the more I didn’t like.

It turns out that when the guys sandblasted the exterior, they didn’t do a stellar job on the porthole openings. The fairing crew did a reasonable clean-up on the flat surfaces of the aft porthole openings, and I’d cleaned up all of the aft stateroom porthole edges and primed them with AwlGrip Max Cor CF before painting. But we all screwed the pooch on the ones in the V-berth, and it was starting to show.

Ancient corrosion on the edges

That discoloration on the porthole opening edge is aluminum oxide, and it’s the last thing you want to see creeping under new paint. A rotary tool with a sanding drum cleaned up the edge just fine.

More ancient corrosion

That paint just popped off.

Sanding it back to solid aluminum

The entire edge in this area was thick with corrosion, and a bubble extended 1-1/2″ under the new paint. As I was sanding it back to where there was no more corrosion, I found orange barrier coat under the Awlgrip primer, and corrosion under the orange coat. Which means that was more ancient corrosion from before the boat was sandblasted. Everybody just missed these spots.

Filler in the round porthole opening…and what appears to be a crack on the right edge

There’s supposed to be a step all the way around this opening for the porthole to fit into. But the fairing crew loaded it full of filler and never cleaned up the excess on the inside. As it is in the picture, there’s no way to install the porthole with that excess filler there. The closer I looked, the more it appeared as if there’s a crack in the paint.

Sanding it back very carefully

Still looking for the aluminum step edge, and I’m getting closer to the crack

Just a bit more and I’ll be at the thing that sure looks like a little crack

 

HELLO!

As soon as the sanding drum hit the edge of what looked like a crack, the filler popped off, confirming that it was, in fact, a crack. The corrosion here wasn’t too bad, but it definitely would have spread once the boat is put into service.

The starboard side isn’t as bad

But there was corrosion under OE orange barrier coat right at the step

Cleaned up and ready for primer

Max Cor CF coats the aluminum and seals the paint edge

Done!

Dry fitting the porthole

That looks great with the porthole dry fitted. There are a few spots where the Matterhorn white exterior paint needs to be touched up, and we’ll spray blue in these spots at the same time. I hope to have that done this fall, once the temperature drops to a more reasonable level. By then, the V-berth joinery should be done and the room will get sanded with 320 grit and sprayed with ICA top coat. Then it will be ready for the final porthole installation.

It was unfortunate that I had to dig into the paint, but it’s better to find it now than to have much bigger trouble years down the road.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Even More V-berth Cabinetry III

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Even More V-berth Cabinetry II

The V-berth is coming along pretty well, though like everything else it’s taking more time than I’d like. The curvy scraps of the 1/4″ ribbon-striped mahogany I used for the V-berth walls are just the right size for topping the panels that attach the bed foundation to the side walls.

Putting leftover scraps to good use

Scraps will make a nice storage shelf one day

Straight cuts are the easy ones

Try making a perfectly straight diagonal cut on a curvy piece of plywood using a regular table or circular saw! This Eureka Zone track saw table really makes these cuts a breeze.

Next, mark off the panel

I marked the base panel so the mahogany panel would fit the wall curvature even better

+1/16″ here, + 1/8″ there

Clamp the panels together and break out the jigsaw

Take a deep breath and start making the cut.

Turned out pretty good!

Nice!

Good fit!

The brown panel that’s vertically oriented will be padded and covered with upholstery that matches the headliner. Everything else will be ribbon-stripe mahogany.

The port side is next

These panels have been ready to install for more than a year

I need to build the “desk-like structure” in the concept drawings so I know where to cut the brown vertically oriented panel on the port side. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Paint Repair