Future Brown Water Cruiser: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit

[neptunesjester]

Saw you're looking for low profile sliding doors. Not sure if you are looking for full size cabin doors or cabinet doors but check out RV / travel trailer sites. Those often have sliding doors and rv parts places carry the hardware or can order it.

[q240z]

Thanks neptunesjester! I'm actually looking for the slider hardware, not the doors. Either way, I'll check 'em out.

[q240z]

Installing the first headliner panel ended up being a real chore. But the Whisper Wall panel at the windshield is finally installed! It looks great!

In a stroke of good fortune, I was straightening up the aft stateroom when I came upon an unmarked box that contained six IMTRA Ventura LEDs! These are the lights I used in the heads, but I'd forgotten that I had leftovers. So I got busy on the aft deck putting in mounting panels and wiring.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Headliner Install Begins

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Good news! The aft deck headliner is installed!
Bad news! Last week, I lost the memory card that had all of the boat refit pix on it.
Good news! Just after I posted the latest article on the headliner, the goddess of the seas rewarded me by having the memory card appear literally right at my feet under my computer desk!

Anyway, the aft deck looks totally transformed with the ceiling frames and insulation hidden behind the Whisper Wall headliner!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up The Aft Deck Headliner Installation

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I wrapped up the last step for the aft deck headliner--installing the OEM light fixtures, upgraded with 10w 12v LED corn bulbs.

I'd been experimenting with them for a while and discovered that even though they run much cooler than 60w incandescent bulbs, if there's no vent at the top of the fixture they're in, they cook themselves dead pretty quickly. So, I drilled some vent holes in the reflector behind the bulb, polished everything with Collinite 810 Chrome Wax, and installed them. It's really nice coming up the ladder now and seeing that major part of the project done.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the OEM lights On The Aft Deck

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

It's starting to look more and more like a boat instead of a doomed project with every passing weekend!

While I was working on the solid mahogany pieces I installed on the aft deck a while back, I was also cutting plywood panels to use as cabinets near the helm. I got the starboard side installed over the holiday, and it looks good! All of the interior panels are friction fit, with just a few screws to lock them in. If I ever need to get behind the panel to access the wiring there, it takes about 2 minutes to remove the interior cabinet panels. Eventually I'll install a shelf to cover the countersunk screw heads and finish the door. But that can come later.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Helm Station Side Cabinets

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Before I could install the port helm side cabinet, I had to install a complicated little piece of mahogany veneer to the skinny bulkhead panel to the left of the salon door.

"Progress"

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Applying Mahogany Veneer to the Port Side Helm Bulkhead

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Happy New Year!

The good news is, I got the port helm cabinet installed and the project has been progressing pretty well recently.

The bad news is, the marina sold to an outfit that doesn't like DIY projects. After two different new managers told me that they understand my situation and that my project is an exception, the latest manager has informed me the tent and boat have to be gone by spring. This really complicates things.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Port Helm Side Cabinet

Cheers,
Q

[zeehag]

hny, Q~~~~!!

[q240z]

Back atcha, zh!

[q240z]

Since I've got to get out by April (reportedly) I called the painter back so he could crank out top coating the V-berth with ICA catalyzed clear in satin. While he was sanding, I was making the last solid mahogany pieces (door jamb etc). The Boatamalan painter laid on four more coats of base, for a total of eight (four were sprayed in the tatami spray booth before I installed the panels). Then he sanded again and sprayed the top coat. It looked great the next day, when I arrived to pull the plastic!

And then I saw it in a photo I took. It was all white. Then I touched it, and it felt like 120 grit. The last part he sprayed is perfectly smooth, but the overspray from that didn't melt in to the top coat around the rest of the room.

The whole thing's oversprayed and has to be sanded and sprayed again.

I'm starting to like the idea of rolling and tipping more and more. Unfortunately, I already bought all of the ICA, and it doesn't roll and tip well.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Top Coating the V-berth

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

The painter came out and sanded the V-berth, then taped it off, and re-sprayed the ICA varnish. But it turned out poorly again, with nicely flowed out sections while right next to that it was dry as can be. So he did it again, one last time, but this time taping it off and only spraying one section at a time. That approach worked, but geez...these materials aren't cheap. It's insane how much it cost to get that one little room sprayed. As nice as it looks when it's done right, I have to say I'm having a hard time seeing how the end result is worth the cost.

Anyway, it's (finally) done and it looks good.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Top Coating the V-berth II

Cheers,
Q

Pardon the dusty lens.

[q240z]

Some non-Roamer unpleasantness has been thrust upon me, which has taken me away from the project almost entirely. I haven't even had time to keep up on blog posts. But I finally got a small break and posted an article on the bi-fold hatch I made for the salon entry. I've still got to make some mahogany pieces to finish the edges, but it's looking lots better than the Dutch door approach the boat had when we first started the project.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Salon Entry Folding Door

Cheers,
Q

The old Dutch door


The new bi-fold hatch

[q240z]

There was a problem I first noticed when I was test fitting the folding salon hatch that became even more obvious when I took the next step and installed the original door. I've mentioned before that it looked like something heavy had fallen on the port side of the cabin top/dashboard. There was evidence of a major fiberglass repair there, and when we were installing the headliner tracks we had to add material to the bulkhead cleat to bring it into alignment with the salon ceiling frames. The whole thing was low by ~3/8". Which meant the dashboard in that area, which is supported by the same frames, was also low. Which meant the bulkhead it attaches to had been pulled out of square. Which means that the reason the boat had that Dutch door when we found it wasn't because a previous owner liked Dutch doors. It was because the original folding hatch probably got smashed when something heavy landed on the dashboard. But in any case flat hatch panels and doors don't fit right in a structure that's been twisted out of square.

My solution to this will be to 'average out' the gaps by attaching the hinges in non-OEM spots. I don't see any other way of fixing this.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Salon Entry Door

Cheers,
Q


Test fitting the door and hatch panels


The door gap


The hatch gap

[q240z]

The salon hatches are turning out better than I expected. I made some mahogany bits to go around the perimeter of the hatches and fill the gaps between them, the slightly twisted dashboard opening, and the salon door.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fitting the Salon Entry Folding Hatch

Cheers,
Q