Future Brown Water Cruiser: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit

[q240z]

This isn't directly related to my boat refit, but it's one of many things that's happened this year that contributes to the boat not splashing.

The transmission went out in my truck late last year. $3500 later, the tranny was working fine, but a month later the engine started sounding like it was coming apart. We barely made it home, and a compression test revealed low compression. Codes indicated bad catalytic converters. Dents on the exhaust pipe indicated the tranny shop had beaten hard on the exhaust, which might have caused the cats to fracture and come apart, blocking the exhaust system and sending ceramic particles up into the cylinders. With new cats in, the truck ran OK but still had low compression on a few cylinders. But recently I tested it again and found the compression was restored! 190~200psi in all cylinders! Here's hoping the magic that fixed the truck gets sprinkled on the boat. It'd be good to have things go my way after some of the unfortunate things that have happened over the years to delay the project.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: My Life WAS An Old-School Country Western Song

Cheers
Q

[q240z]

I got the starboard V-berth panel installed. Those two curved panels were the biggest interior challenge I've knocked out so far. I am sooooo glad to be done with them. It's starting to look like a boat interior again!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Starboard V-berth Mahogany Wall Panel

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

With those PITA curvy V-berth walls finally installed, the rest of the cabinetry in that room is coming together relatively quickly. It's looking more and more like a motor yacht interior with each passing weekend.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the V-berth Cabinets

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I finished fitting the panels, cut the top cabinet panel, and then started doing the final preparation for installation. With sticky epoxy everywhere, it's best to just leave the area and come back when it cures.

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

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I've been learning more about making cabinets. I think I've got the process finally worked out, but it's challenging stuff. It doesn't help that I'm using epoxy and even on mild days the temperature in the tent is way above 100°F. Getting all the pieces wetted out and put together before the epoxy kicks isn't easy. But so far it's going pretty good.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: V-berth Cabinetry Storage Boxes

Cheers,
Q

[Warby12]

How about a window air conditioner mounted in a top hatch? With all of that insulation it would be very efficient. You might need to watch out for condensation on the cold surfaces after you turn it off if it got really cold but a few degrees cooler might make your life a lot better

[q240z]

I an AC onboard a while back but stopped using it. The problems are 1) getting rid of the exhaust heat, and 2) keeping the intake clean. Even with the dust extractor I use, there's a lot of dust flying around; and 3) the yard breaker is 25a...for the entire yard. By the time I fire up the saw and dust extractor, there's not enough juice left over for AC. Even if I don't use any tools, all it takes is a couple of guys firing up sanders and polishers and the breaker pops.

[q240z]

The bed foundation and cabinets look even better now that they're insulated and installed!

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

Cheers,
Q

[Warby12]

Originally Posted by q240z

I an AC onboard a while back but stopped using it. The problems are 1) getting rid of the exhaust heat, and 2) keeping the intake clean. Even with the dust extractor I use, there's a lot of dust flying around; and 3) the yard breaker is 25a...for the entire yard. By the time I fire up the saw and dust extractor, there's not enough juice left over for AC. Even if I don't use any tools, all it takes is a couple of guys firing up sanders and polishers and the breaker pops.

indeed

[q240z]

I'm going to me making a lot of cabinet parts out of solid mahogany soon, so I had to get myself a new surface planer. When the missus sees pretty new mahogany getting installed, it takes surprisingly little effort to get her approval on new toy...ahem...tool purchases. :-)

I also made an 8' infeed/outfeed table for the planer. Hopefully I won't have snipe on any of the mahogany I run through this beast.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: New Tool--Dewalt DW734 Thickness Planer

Cheers,
Q

[knottybuoyz]

You need to turn this thread into a textbook Q!

Keep up the good work. Watching intently!

Cheers

[q240z]

Thanks, knottybuoy! How's yours coming along?

[q240z]

I had a long weekend, so I made some solid mahogany corners for the V-berth closet. It was the first time I'd made anything like this, but I think they turned out OK.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making Solid Mahogany Corners for the V-berth Cabinets

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I ended up spending a lot of time one day adjusting my jointer and saws after I discovered problems with each one that was throwing all of my final cuts out of square. The problems all come down to sloppy manufacturing, which is absurd given how much these tools cost.

Anyway, once I got everything cutting true I got to work cutting and fitting the V-berth bed foundation framing. It's coming together pretty well.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The V-berth Bed Foundation Frames

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I got the V-berth bed foundation frames wrapped up, then disassembled them all, insulated the top of the cabinet box and glued and screwed it all together. I'm ready to start cutting the plywood that the mattress will lie on.

When writing the article, I linked to an early article on my CAD concepts for the interior. When I checked the link, I discovered that all of the pictures I'd saved at Photobucket don't display. PB apparently changed its business model, and now you have to pay to allow pictures on its servers to be viewed on 3rd party sites. So now I'm spending a lot of time downloading pix from PB and uploading them to WordPress, where the blog is hosted, so I can basically recreate each article. And PB's process for downloading each folder includes a bunch of mandatory streaming of advertizing, so what could take a few minutes instead takes hours. This is sooo tedious.

Anyway, the V-berth is coming along. Gotta stay focused on the good news.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the V-berth Bed Foundation Frames

Cheers,
Q