1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Demise of the Evil Helm Windshield Frames

In March 2013, I removed the helm windshield frame so we could rebuild the cabin top. As the paint prep work was progressing, I dug into rebuilding the windshield frame to get it ready for paint. One of the biggest problems with rebuilding the frame was that the center glass frame was missing when we got the boat back in late 2007. A buddy up in the Great Lakes was parting out a smaller Roamer, and it looked like I could use his windshield frame extrusions to manufacture a center windshield frame for my boat. After fitting all of the pieces and welding the extrusions together, I started working on improving the larger frame extrusions in preparation for reassembling the main frame. During the 2013~14 winter, I disassembled the whole windshield. It turns out those things are very complex structures, with all kinds of connectors and screws holding them together. Stainless screws in aluminum in the marine environment is a recipe for trouble, and the windshield frames gave me plenty of it. But I kept at it and eventually had all of the pieces fitting pretty good and ready for reassembly.

Frame extrusions and connectors

Most of the screws came out with a bit of work, the rest had to be drilled out. The Frearson screws that hold these frames together use an undercut head. I was able to buy replacement undercut head screws that will work, though they use standard Philips drive rather than Frearson. Even after the old screws came out, though, some of the connectors were broken.

Removing broken frame connector pieces

I drilled a hole lengthwise into the aluminum connector that broke off in the extrusion. Then I twisted in a deck screw to give me something to clamp onto.

Mr. Broken Connector, meet Mr. Mallet

3 whacks and the connector came out

Scrap aluminum angle just happens to be the right size

The 6061 angle has a radiused inner corner that will have to be removed, just like they did originally. I’ll also have to bend the extrusion a bit to match the original, since the windshield frames don’t have 90 degree angles.

Mark the width

New connector, ready for final shaping, drilling, and tapping

Shopsmith bandsaw removes material from the inner corner

The new connector piece is ready to fit

Removing material to improve the fit

The center uprights were contacting the cabin top on the trailing edge, leaving the forward edge floating just a bit. Taking off a bit of material from the aft edge should improve fit.

The bottom edge of the center windshield frame upright

The pic above shows one thing I didn’t like about the original design: the bottom of the windshield frame upright extrusions were open. This leaves a very narrow line for bedding compound to seal out water. It would be best to weld plates in to provide more area, but the windshield connectors cannot be installed if there are plates in the way. I could weld in plates after the windshield is assembled, but if I ever need to disassemble it again…

It’s always something.

Final fit with new connector looks good

After getting all of the windshield extrusions and connectors ready to reassemble, I left them in a neat pile out of the way on the aft deck. My plan was to give them to the painter for refinishing, then put the whole assembly together on the boat. But before I got around to that, the boat was burglarized. In addition to cleaning out all of my tools and materials, the thieves took lots of new and also original boat parts. The OE parts that were stolen consisted of the chromed bronze stanchion parts and many of the aluminum extrusions. Consensus around the boatyard and elsewhere seems to be that after grabbing high value tools and materials, the thieves went for scrap. Recycling yards in the area were paying $2.78/lbs for bronze and 6061 aluminum was $0.78 when the theft happened.

So, just when I solved most of my evil windshield problems, thieves got around $50 in scrap and imposed on me a different resolution to the evil helm windshield problem. With the OE windshield no longer even an option, I went back to the drawing board and then on to the workshop.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The New Windshield Frames

1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Window Pains III–the Evil Helm Windshield Frames

I used to think the paint job was the hardest part of this refit, but I was wrong. By far, the hardest, most frustrating and time-consuming part has been trying to get the helm station windshield frames back in the boat. The aft stateroom portlights were time consuming, mostly because each one had no less than 40 screws holding them together and most of them or the holes they screwed into were corroded….oh, and there were 12 of the portlights to disassemble. But while removing evil screws is tedious, at least at the end of an eight-hour day standing in front of a drill press you can look at four of them in a disassembled state and know you got something done. The windshield frames are a whole nother matter.

As I explained in a post in late December 2013, the helm windshield frame parts don’t seem to fit the cabin top and aft enclosure roof anymore. The entire hardtop has been firmly attached to the aluminum aft deck enclosure since before 2009. I removed the windshield frames in 2013 in preparation for paint, but we never loosened the hardware that attaches the hardtop to the rest of the boat. Still, when I tried to put it back, the frames just plain do not fit square. This is the thing that has been vexing me all winter long.

Little bit of overbite there

The leading edge of the hardtop hangs a bit low because there’s nothing supporting it. When I attached the frames to the hardtop in November, the lower end protruded just a bit. No problemo, I thought…just need to jack up the leading edge of the hard top and it’ll pull right back into place.

Jack up port side and support with pieces of 3/4″ phenolic-faced plywood.

I jacked it up just enough to bring the lower edge of the window frame into alignment with the base on the cabin top when the jack is released and the hardtop is sitting on the plywood. Then I jacked up the center of the hardtop and used a 2×4 to brace it in place.

Jackin’ away

Ditto for the starboard side

With the two outside windshield frame parts fitting pretty well in the space between the hardtop and cabin top, the rest ought to be a slam dunk…right?

Looks OK at the top, though I don’t like the gap on the trailing edge

Fit on the bottom looks good, but there’s that little gap on the leading edge

Not a super tight fit, but I’ve seen worse

Moving on to the center section…what the ???

The center section upper frame extrusion protrudes by 5/32″ or so

The OE screw holes for the center section of the windshield frame are unmolested. This is the place Chris Craft installed this extrusion, and it sticks up proud of the hard top by more than an 1/8″.

Fitting the center frame port upright

I think it’s supposed to go here

But when the upright is lined up with the hardtop, it’s way off on the bottom.

It isn’t long enough to reach the cabin top!

So, I jacked up the center of the hardtop and cut 1/2″ out of the 2×4 center brace. When I let it down and removed the jack, the upright fit the bottom pretty well.

Not a bad fit

But again…there’s that gap at the leading edge.

Uprights in position

I thought I was making good progress by getting the height right, but  there were still a couple of screws holding some of the frame parts together. Time to do something about that.

Penetrating oil didn’t help this one

Dang it! Evil little screws!

If you ever wondered what’s holding those windshields together…

The connectors are just bits of 1/8″ flat stock and sections of 2″ x 2-1/2″ 6061 angle with holes drilled and threaded into them. But when stainless screws snap off in aluminum, that’s the beginning of a very long slog at the drill press.

More snapped off stainless screws in aluminum connectors

Gak

Now I’ve got to manufacture some new connector pieces. On the upside, I’ve got the materials on-site. The downside is that I’ve got the tools to do the job down at the house…and that’s an hour’s drive one-way.

The bigger problem is that even with the pieces very loosely assembled, the windshield frames don’t line up the way they should. I can get them to line up by pushing a bit, but then the joints open up incrementally all over the place. And where the joints open up, I’d have to modify several of the pieces–sanding little bits off here and there so the joints fit right again. Then I’ll have to make new connectors for each joint, and the holes will have to be drilled just so. Also, nobody makes windshield extrusions like these anymore, and there aren’t any used ones I’ve been able to find. Even when I thought I had a solution with used extrusions from a Chris Craft Commander of the same vintage that was being scrapped out, it turns out that they’re different even if the exterior appearance is the same.

If I sand, cut or otherwise modify the original parts just a wee bit too much…I’m doomed.

It’s time to take a break from the stupid helm windshield. It’s too frustrating installing the pieces, only to find a problem, and then take them apart again only to find another problem on reassembly/test fit, and then repeat the process over and over again. Based on what I’m seeing here, plus the repair patch we found at the base of the windshield when we removed the windshield, the missing center section of the windshield, and a really odd collection of screws that held the windshields into the frames, I’m becoming more and more certain that this boat’s helm windshields or perhaps the hardtop was involved in a collision with something that caused it to move around…a Travel-lift, perhaps, or maybe a long prong on a forklift, like one might use for a repower…

It’s all a big mystery why it’s the way it is, but the frustration with trying to make it right is painfully, frustratingly obvious! 😦

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Trim Tabs

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Enclosure Glass

The aft enclosure glass got delivered back in early November 2013, but we were wailing away on the final steps of the exterior paint job and I didn’t have time to install it. Then I had to remake the tent in preparation for winter, which took a goodly bit of time. Then winter 2014 hit with a vengeance, with weeks of brutally cold temps, snow storms, ice…you name it.

Yeah…I know…I’m a wimp. lol

Anyway, we got a break in the weather, so I took advantage of a 60°F weekend and got the windows installed in the aft enclosure.

First, tape off the exterior window opening

I have a bunch of leftover 3M 1/2″ fine line tape, which works well for protecting the paint from the sealant.

2) Run a bead of Boat Life polysulfide around the window frame, then place spacer blocks

The spacer blocks help ensure that there’s an adequate gap to allow for expansion between the glass and the frame.

3) Place the glass in the frame and moosh it into place with clamps

Tapered blocks cut from scrap 2x4s press up against the glass. This window was particularly challenging because I had to warp the glass to the frame, which had a curve in it. The frame has a curve in it because the SMIB fabricator who built my aft enclosure twisted some of the panels when he welded them all together. Not a problem…tempered glass reportedly takes curves rather well.

4) Use a plastic spreader to remove excess caulk

Then repeat for all the other windows

I’ll remove the clamps next weekend, then razor off the bit of rubber that remains on the glass.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Window Pains III–the Evil Helm Window Frames

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Return of the Bow Seat Windows

Back in early November, I took delivery of my bow seat windows from Motion Windows out in Washington State. There were a few surprises with the quality of the windows, the biggest one of which was that two of them didn’t fit into the window openings! Motion stood behind their product, though, and in mid-December 2013 I shipped them back to the manufacturer for a do-over. The crate showed up again a week ago, so I took them out to the boatyard to see if they fit.

The ol’ crate has got some miles on her from 2 trips across N. America

No plastic film around the windows this time

The first time I got them, the windows were all wrapped in clear plastic film to protect them from abrasion…not this time though.

Big screws

The center windshield inner clamp ring was secured to the frame with #12 wood screws, which are about two sizes larger than the slots into which they were screwed.

Galled screws

The screws were too big for the slots, so the screws galled when they were installed at the factory. And the screws aren’t even fully seated against the clamp ring here. I have no idea why they used #12 screws in slots sized for #8 screws.

Two different sized fasteners

Galled trim ring from oversized fastener

Properly sized screw fits the slot nicely

Since the oversized screws were only on the center window, which opens, I’m guessing Motion used them because of the forces associated with an opening window. But I think they could have accomplished the same thing by simply using more screws of the right size. Otherwise, they should size the slots for the screws they intend to use. Forcing screws into slots or holes that are too small doesn’t strike me as the right approach.

How many times I gotta say no stickers or badges? lol

It’s a little thing, and they only put a small badge on the center window instead big ones on all three like before, but “no badges” was one of the things I asked for on the re-do.

TWANG! went the port side clamp ring when I removed the screws

I removed all of the screws from the port window above, starting on the side nearest me. When I removed the last of the screws along the top, leaving only the two on the far end, the clamp ring made a kind of TWANG sound. If you look at the pic above, you can see that the clamp ring is held in place by two screws on the far side, but on the near side it’s offset. The screw slot in the clamp ring should be directly over the slot in the frame into which the screw should thread. But instead, it’s tweaked 3/8″ or so to the left. They had to see this at the factory but just forced it into place.

Screw slots in the clamp ring are ~3/8″ offset to the left of the threaded frame slot

On the plus side, the welds and finishing at the corners looks very good. The welds don’t protrude from the extrusions, which was the case the first time around and the reason why the windows didn’t fit.

Looking at it from the other end…definitely not square

You can also see in the pic above that the left side screw is as far as the slot will allow toward getting the clamp ring centered over the frame. So, by my counting there were two mistakes at the factory: the first was the fabricator cuttin the clamp ring parts just slightly too big. The second was forcing the assembled clamp ring onto the window frame that it didn’t quite fit.

Screws removed…the clamp ring sits square over the frame

But the screw slots don’t line up with the threaded slot in the frame

It’s only 3/32″ or so off…but that matters!

Starboard side window was perfect

Next came the dry fit into the window openings….

Drumroll, please…

TA-DAaaaa!

They slid right in the openings. Perfect fit.

I’ve been waiting six years to see the center window open!

Is that slick or what?!?

It will be sooo nice to be able to open the window when we’re at anchor to let the breeze waft through the galley and salon. 🙂

On Motion Windows, I have to say I really like the concept for their product, and their front office customer service is outstanding. But…their prices were 15% higher than the competition, which is fine if the quality is there. One out of three of my windows was perfect, which tells me that they have the capacity to do it right every time. So it’s a bit disappointing to see problems, especially since this was a do-over from quality and dimension problems on the first set. Granted, the company badge came off with a scraper, I can use a die grinder to make the clamp ring screws fit, and I can go buy more properly sized screws for the center window. None of these problems are deal-stoppers like the first set, where Motion made the windows larger than the templates. But for the price, I think they should be getting this stuff right from the factory the first time around.

I won’t install these permanently until I have some other things ready to go that will also be bedded in white polysulfide. No point in opening a tube if I’m not going to use it all up. Speaking of polysulfide…

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Aft Enclosure Glass.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Window Pains II, the Helm Windshield

Like I wrote in my last article, getting windows back in this boat is proving to be the most tedious, least satisfying part of this refit. Before I started on the (hateful) aft stateroom windows, I removed the helm windshield frames in March 2012 in preparation for rebuilding and eventually painting the cabin top. That part was relatively easy. By mid-November 2013, I was finally pulling the pieces together to make the replacement for the helm center windshield, since the original had gone missing sometime  before the boat was moved onto the hard back in the 1980s. I’ve done a couple of things that should resolve some problems with the way the helm windshield was originally installed. Most recently though, I’ve been staring at the individual helm windshield frame components trying to figure out how in the heck I’m going to put it all back together.

Windshield frame upright extrusions are open-ended

Being open-ended, there’s only a 1/8″ wide surface for bedding compound to adhere to and that’s just not enough. From the dirt on the cut ends, you can see that the sealant really wasn’t sealing anything at all.

Welded aluminum caps the extrusion end

This gives a nice, wide surface for the bedding compound to seal.

Stainless windshield brackets should last longer than the original plain steel ones

I didn’t have the original lower brackets to model the new ones on because they had pretty much completely rotted away. I believe the lack of sealant at the base of the outer extrusions helped promote the rot, so hopefully the use of stainless and a better sealing surface will work better.

Lots and lots o’ bits and pieces

Each upright in the windshield frame assembly has very specifically cut brackets that holds all of the bits together. Surprisingly, most of them came out without too much of a fight. Keeping their orientations recorded is extremely important if I ever want to get them back together again.

Test fitting the pieces…looks pretty good here

Got a liitle overhang at the base

Overhang at the base means the upper end needs to go up, because I sure can’t adjust the cabin top down. Adding the kevlar and heavy biaxial fiberglass layers to the windshield base increased the height by maybe 3/16″, but that was necessary because of the damage we found to the original FRP layup in that area.

Not a very good fit at the top, either

Jacking up the leading edge of the helm roof should bring these all back into alignment. But before I get to work with jacks, I need to protect my new paint job.

Breaking out the tape and blankets

Padding is done

Next I need to attach the horizontal parts of the windshield frame. Since there were no dimensional changes in the horizontal axis, all of these parts should fit just fine. Then, I just have to move the leading edge of the hard top with jacks until the upright parts of the frame all fit.

Drilling pilot holes from the underside of the cabin top

Drilling out the holes for the new 1/4-20 screws

As I documented in the article when I removed the windshield, most of the screws holding the base of the windshield were rotten. The ones that weren’t rotten were poorly aligned, and many weren’t even screwed down tight. Since there was an obvious repair to the area, I believe this wasn’t Chris Craft’s doing. I decided to upgrade to 1/4″ stainless hardware for the windshield base, which meant I had to drill out the old holes and tap them for the larger screws.

Windshield bases temporarily installed for the test fit

Installing the upper horizontal windshield frame pieces–ALL STOP

It turns out that the center upright section is tweaked. Though it’s not visible to my eye, there’s a 1/4″ banana to it. I need to install the aluminum frames to give a rigid surface for the lumber I’ll use in conjunction with the jacks to move the hard top into position. Without the center piece, I can’t start the jacking process. I’ll have to take the center piece home, where I’ve got a hydraulic press I can use to make the piece straight again.

Because the boatyard is an hour away, it’s only worth making the trip on weekends when I can spend the whole day out there. So I’ll have to put off this crucial step for another week…and that pushes back the schedule to paint the windshield frames, reassemble the whole thing and get it installed.

It’s always something… 😦

I got so bummed about getting stymied on the windshield that I shifted gears and did something fun instead–speaker installation in the salon!

A couple of cleats and some repurposed 1/2″ marine plywood

Nothing fancy

I’ll pull the speakers,  edge-seal the plywood, and do a proper wiring install later. Getting the speakers in left me in a much better mood, even if it wasn’t a “must do” job.

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

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Window Pains

I’ve been working on refitting this 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 since late in 2007, but by far the most tedious, frustrating work has been trying to get windows back in the boat.  “Window pains,” indeed.

Way back in early November 2013, I started digging into the (hateful) aft stateroom portholes, which continue to be one of the most tedious parts of this refit thus far. There are 40 screws in each of the ten original, cast aluminum portholes, and the vast majority of them require drilling to remove. The window glass itself is bedded with a material that’s similar to DAP, and like all very old DAP it’s as hard as old limestone. And judging by the corrosion I’m finding in all of the screw holes, the old DAP didn’t seal particularly well, either. Then there’s the butyl tape Chris Craft used to (kind of) seal the portholes to the window openings and interior plywood…sticky, nasty stuff that resists removal with a scraper.

Hateful screws and a gooey mess

Aluminum screws and sealant that’s turned to stone on one side, with stainless screws and sticky butyl tape on the other. In the pic above, you can see all of the broken heads of the stainless screws holding the flange for the screen in place. Since they’re stainless self-tappers, drilling them out requires a two-step process…very time consuming.

Hateful, nasty little screws

The slotted round-head screws on the paper towel are made of aluminum. They’re used to secure the flange that holds the glass to the frame. The ones on the top of the frame have been fairly cooperative in coming out–most have threads that are coated with white powder (aluminum oxide), but at least they come out. The ones along the bottom and the lower sides of the frames, by contrast, turn to white dust as soon as I put a screwdriver to them. My guess is that condensation on the window and frame runs downhill, collecting on the seam between the glass and flange. Since the DAP sealant has long since stopped sealing, all of that water ends up wicking down the threads of the screws and turning the aluminum to Al2O3.

The undercut, self-tapping flathead screws are stainless, and they’re used to secure the flange on the outside of the frame that holds the screen in place. Since they’re on the outside, they’ve been exposed to even more moisture than the aluminum screws on the inside of the frame. Moisture + dissimilar metals = corrosion, and very few of those danged stainless screws comes out without drilling a pilot hole, then following up with a 3/32 drill to remove the threaded part after the head breaks off.

Broken screws require brute force

Once I’ve got all of the screws out that will come out (and heads broken off the rest), I carefully pry the flanges over the broken off screws. Gotta be careful though, because these flanges are very thin cast aluminum.

Rotten threads pull out as the flange separates from the frame

More brute force to remove the broken screws

Et voilà! One flange removed!

The sense of accomplishment when I finally remove a flange is tempered by the realization that it takes about one hour for each.. And remember, there are two of them per porthole–one for the glass and one for the screen–and there are ten portholes on the boat. That doesn’t include the time it will take to remove all of the broken stainless screws that are still in the window frames, either! Don’t even get me started on them!

Of particular interest in the pic above, though, is the fact that the screen flanges have zero sealant or even paint on the back side. It’s no wonder most of the stainless steel screws that held this in place resisted removal to the point of snapping. But it gets worse…

Having snapped all of the drill bits I need for this part of the job, I’m in a holding pattern until new ones arrive. I don’t know what the deal is with modern drill bits, but they just don’t seem to last as long as the old set my grandfather had. I’ve tried sets advertised as “cobalt,” but they seem more like “cobalt colored” than the real deal. High speed steel and carbon steel bits round off almost immediately when I touch them to the stainless screws. And those “titanium coated” bits are just silly. They dull when drilling through pine! I used to think that “Made in the USA” was the mark to look for on machine tools, but I’m less sure about them now.

In any case, I can’t wait until this part of the job is done.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Window Pains II, the Helm Windshield

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Update on the Bow Seat Windows

Back in early November 2013, I was very excited to finally see my new bow seat windows arrive. While they looked great coming out of the crate, on closer examination I found problems with quality control on the welds and weld finishing that would almost certainly lead to premature coating failure. Sure, the coatings would probably last through the two-year warranty period. But since I’m paying far more for these three windows than I will for all of the other new tinted glass throughout the boat, I felt the quality should reflect the marketing claims of the manufacturer and the price.

After a bit of discussion with the manufacturer, Motion Windows agreed to take the windows back and remanufacture them to their usual high standard. That’s good because, in addition to the weld and paint work issues, I also found that the frames were not built to the dimensions I specified…two out of the three would not fit into the window holes!

Motion Windows’ auto CAD spec sheet for the starboard window

And for the center and port windows

1″ mark = zero

The pic above is the center window, and I’m measuring it’s height.  Note that I aligned the 1″ mark with the edge of the frame that fits into the window opening to avoid inaccuracy from the stainless piece at the end of the tape measure. The spec sheet indicates a height of 12-15/16″ for the center windshield, which was exactly the size of the 1/4″ plywood template I sent them. That template would go through the entire depth of the window opening without touching the sides…but just by a whisker. Everything should fit great as long as the windows aren’t made larger than the specification.

Since 1″ = 0, 14″ = 13″

As indicated in the pic, the window frame height is actually 13″, which is a full 1/16″ larger than specified. But it gets worse at the corners where the welds are…

Add 3/64″~1/16″ for the welds

Set the 1″ mark at the edge of the weld and…

It’s 13-1/16″ (because we started at 1″) on the far side of the opposite weld

A window that’s 13-1/16″ tall at the corners where the welds protrude cannot fit into a hole that’s 12-15/16″ in height. And if you look closely, that’s a heavy 13-1/16″…maybe even 13-3/32″. Either way, the windows are too big to fit in the holes, and I’m not grinding into my brand new Awlgrip paint job to make room!

Fortunately, Motion Windows did hold up on their end of the bargain. The windows are back in the crate and will be shipped back to the West Coast on Monday. I should get the new windows back in 30 days or so. While I’m not happy with the way things went, I have to commend Motion for standing behind their product and promising to improve their quality control.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Window Pains II

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Off Comes the Plastic (AKA the Paint Job is Done)!

I recently made some changes to the navigation on this site to make it easier to find articles. The new article index has every one listed in chronological order. When I look at the titles of the articles I’ve written recently, with so many of them focused on windows, portholes and glass instead of epoxy, fairing or sanding, it’s pretty clear the body and paint work part of the refit is coming to a close. The cabin top, hull and decks were sprayed over the summer of 2013, as was the mahogany toe rail (the first time around). The blue accent stripes have been painted for weeks. The only thing left to bring closure to the exterior paint job is to spray the final coats of Imron MS1 on the toe rail and take off all of the tape and masking film, which is precisely what we did last weekend, in mid-November 2013.

New mahogany toe rail sanded and ready for the final coats of Imron MS1

We went through a total of three cases of 2″ 3M 233+ tape on this paint job. If I never see another roll, it will be too soon!

Sanded, taped, wiped, tacked off and ready to spray

The Boatamalan painter sprayed on Saturday, then we all went home. I returned the following morning to pull all of the tape and hand masking film. Some of it had been on the boat for almost a month, since we painted the hull in Awlcraft 2000 Matterhorn White.

Et voila!

Without further ado…off came the plastic!

The helm station view hasn’t changed much since we painted the dashboard and cabin top

The side deck view looks pretty much the same as when we did the nonskid

Even the bow hasn’t changed all that much

But it sure is nice to see all of the bits uncovered at the same time.

Tinted bow seat windows look pretty good

I’m still working with the manufacturer on some issues with these windows, so they’re just dry fit here. Still, I like the way they turned out and the effect the tinted windows have against the white cabin top.

Need to install the bow seat hatches…soon

Dropping down off the bow, we can finally see the whole paint job…sorta. The tent limits how much you can see at any one time.

Nice stripe!

Wild shot looking up from ground level

The mirror-like reflection of the tent frames and walls in the new Awlgrip 2000, coupled with the upper accent stripe and boot stripe plus the chine as it goes forward to the stem yielded a mind-bending result through the camera lens when I put it on forced flash.

Red, white & blue seems appropriate for an American classic

Yes, that reflected paint can does say Awlgrip!

Again, props to the Boatamalan for flowing out the paint so well.

Shiny!

Somebody opened the door of the tent while I was pulling all of the plastic. He commented that it didn’t look like any metal boat he’d ever seen.

I agree. 🙂

Dang wire from the tent got in the way of this otherwise excellent shot!

Stbd side looks good, too

Tinted windows really finish the look

Yeah, baby 🙂

That’s a mound of masking tape and film

It took the better part of six hours to pull it all, and at the end of the day the pile was high. I’ll be getting my money’s worth in dry slip fees this month just in garbage disposal alone! lol

That’s basically a wrap for the paint work. Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Polishing the Stainless Rub Rails.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Windshield Frames (part I)

With the paint work nearly done and the new tinted glass ready to be installed, I need to get the helm windshields back in the boat. I removed the windshield frames back in March 2013, when we were preparing to make the cabin top bullet-proof. There are a few issues I need to resolve before I can reinstall the frames: 1) a previous owner removed the original center (opening) windshield and replaced it with plexiglass; 2) instead of keeping the OE center windshield extruded aluminum frame with its integral hinge, the PO just attached the plexiglass to the frame by drilling holes and attaching a piano hinge with screws; and 3) the anodizing on all of the aluminum frames that were exposed to weather has gone cloudy.

The center opening windshield as found in late 2007

The missing center windshield frame is by far the biggest problem. The plexiglass panel and piano hinge looked bad and worked poorly. But the extrusions for the OE window frames are no longer available and having custom pieces made up would be ridiculously expensive. Similarly, having a brand new windshield assembly made would be very expensive and impractical, since dry fitting the pieces to the brand new Awlgrip paint might cause damage. After searching fruitlessly for properly sized windshield assemblies in boat boneyards across the country (gotta love the internet!), I went to Plan B: find an old Chris Craft with opening windshields and make a new center windshield frame out of the parts.

OE opening windows from a 38′ Commander

A friend who was parting out a 38′ Chris Craft Commander was kind enough to dismantle his two opening windshields and ship them to me. Though each of his windows were smaller in both dimensions than mine, I hoped to be able to cut the pieces and weld them together, making one frame from the pieces. Upon arrival though, I realized that though they looked identical from the outside in pictures, the extrusion profile was quite different between the 38 Commander and 46 Roamer.

My outer frame on the left, the “new” window frame on the right

Everything was looking pretty good at this point. So I tried to put the two pieces together…

The two round hinge halves fit together just fine

In the pic above, the two pieces are in the fully open position with the window frame 90° to the outer frame. Next, I rotated the window frame to see if the hinge worked.

All stop

The window frame rotated 45°, at which point the inside corner of the extrusion ran into the outer windshield extrusion. Though identical in use on comparable-sized boats of the same manufacture and model year, the two extrusion pieces are incompatible. Chris Craft used different extrusions between models.

It’s always something…  😦

While staring at the extrusion bits, I realized that even if the hinges weren’t compatible maybe all was not lost. There were four side extrusions and two bottom ones. Maybe I could make them work.

Side extrusions might work with aftermarket hinges

Measure, mark, cut, fit, & repeat

Fortunately, common woodworking tools can be used to machine aluminum. My miter saw worked fine to cut all of the corner and straight cuts.

Paint stir stick spacers help maintain consistent gaps

Frame on top or frame inset?

Since I’m making the custom frame, I’m not limited to whatever approach Chris Craft used. I stared at the extrusions for quite a while before deciding that it was best to have the windshield frames set inside the outer frame when closed than resting against the face.

The extrusions were not cooperating

The gap around the frame opening between the two extrusions opened up to 3/8″ if I didn’t modify the windshield extrusions. Such a big gap leaves a very narrow sealing surface…plus, it just looked goofy. So I marked the lines to indicate how much material I needed to remove and brought the pieces back home.

Jigging up the Shop Smith mill

With a Freud carbide tipped router bit in my Shop Smith, I used mahogany guides to hold the extrusions in place as I pushed each piece through the mill.

Hot metal flyin’!

Note to self: next time, do not wear a tee-shirt when milling aluminum! The flying bits are hot as Hades and, it turns out, stick to human skin!

Extrusion before milling

Extrusion after milling

With all of the bits cut to size and milled, the next step will be welding everything together followed by paint. But before that happens, I need to get back to the boat and finish up the exterior paint work–the last coat of Imron MS1 on the toe rail.

Up next on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit:  Off Comes the Plastic (AKA the Paint Job is Done)!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Glass!

My first order of new glass arrived yesterday! These panes are for the aft enclosure and the helm windshields. I also had to replace a couple of the salon windows that were shattered by a wind storm back in 2008.

New glass with all edges lightly ground down

Every other time I’ve had glass cut to size from a local supplier, it always shows up with razor sharp edges. Having the glass shop grind those sharp edges off is a very nice touch that makes handling the glass much safer.

1/4″ tinted and tempered panes for the aft enclosure and windshield

More aft enclosure panes

Original clear glass is already installed in the salon

New tinted panes on the stbd side

I wasn’t sure how the tinted panes would look from inside the salon, but they’re not as dark as I suspected. I also noticed that the new windows slides noticeably smoother over the new window tracks than the OE glass. We like them so much, replacing the original panes with tinted ones just moved up on the honey-do list.

Tinted glass v. Matterhorn White Awlcraft 2000 paint = 🙂

It’s below freezing in the boatyard at night now and very cool all day long, so keeping heat in the boat will be essential if I’m going to keep up the momentum over this winter. The new windows will really help out.

Up next on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Steps to the V-berth