Future Brown Water Cruiser: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit

[q240z]

Problems keep popping up that are delaying splashing the boat. I'm dealing with those as fast as I can, and fortunately the weather is cooperating. But I'm also checking off items on my pre-splash honey-do list.

I want to have all of the raw water circuits finished before I splash. Raw water circuits involve inlets for the water the boat is floating in, some sort of mechanism that needs raw water, and the outlet for the raw water after it passes through the mechanism. On this boat, that’s two main propulsion engines, one generator, air conditioners, and two toilets. I want all of the raw water circuits done before I splash the boat, because failures in raw water circuits are the main reason why boats sink.

This time, I got the salon air conditioner installed, including running new Shields 200 Series 5/8" hose from the raw water manifold I made recently to the aft stateroom and salon AC units. The installation went well, and I'm moving onto other things. Hopefully, the boat will be splashed this month.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Salon AC Unit

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

One of my priority items is to confirm that the engines will light off when the boat gets splashed. I thought I was ready to start them, but neither passed the test.

On the starboard side, the injector pump lost prime because of a crack in the OEM fuel return line on the pump body. That was allowing fuel to leak out and air to leak in. And the steel line is in an awful place. To replace it requires R&Ring the injector pump...

The port side lit off almost immediately, but then died when I released the key. That happened a few times, and I discovered the key switch is shot. It doesn't send power to the RUN circuit, which energizes the locking RUN solenoid on the injector pump. Additionally, there was a bad battery connection (entirely my fault) that ended up blowing the main fuse.

So...the good news is both engines clearly are willing to start, so long as they get fuel and electricity where they need it. I've already fixed the battery connection problem, and the new key switches are ready to be picked up. The bad news is that fixing the fuel system is going to be a big project.

You can see the tests in the video at the linked blog article.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: First Try Starting My Cummins Main Engines

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Well, launching in November is starting to look challenging, too.

I figured I should come clean about why the boat's not floating yet: we're still doing paint repairs, and nobody allows open air spraying of Awl Grip. So the boat has to stay in the tent until all the repairs are done.

Repairs, you ask?

Yes. Repairs.

As in Hispanic Jackson Pollock grafitti removal and crack repairs from very expensive fairing compound that didn't adhere to the aluminum in spots. Also, professional fairing team incompetence.

Anyway, this is my longest blog article ever, with lots of pictures showing the various problems. I haven't given up yet. Who knows, we could still splash this month if it warms up enough to spray again.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Why My Boat Didn’t Splash in October 2022

Cheers,
Q

[Baby tug]

I’m not going to read the whole thread , I take my hat off to you working on a project like that gives me motivation for What I have to do , I wish more people would bring back old boats ��✌️

[q240z]

This post is about a very important item that I made a while back but never got around to posting about it until now.

The missus wants a washer and dryer, which means the boat's got to have a dryer vent. Going out the porthole made the most sense, but I needed a gasket between the glass and the plate that the vent exits through and I couldn't find one with the right dimensions. So I made one out of silicone using the same basic process as when I made the porthole gaskets. It turned out really good...so good that a mouse munched on a bunch of it! Fortunately, enough uneaten gasket remained for my porthole.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making a Silicone Gasket for the Laundry Closet Porthole

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Probably should have included the link...
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making a Silicone Gasket for the Laundry Closet Porthole

[q240z]

The dryer vent outlet plate I made FINALLY came back from the paint shop along with some other items I'll be writing about soon. It's too cold to paint in the tent, so it's good that Weaver Boatworks let's the painter there do side jobs with their spray booth.

The plate getting painted was the last thing I needed to put the laundry closet dryer vent porthole together. I gotta say, it turned out really well. I installed it and the last transom porthole, so now all the portholes are installed. The boat's getting very close to being weather-proof.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Last of the Portholes

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had to upgrade from a 17-series gas-cooled TIG torch to a 9-series water-cooled one. I could justify the cost for the torch kit and stubby gas lens kit because my Miller Spoolmatic was too big and wouldn't fit in the space where I need to weld in bigger standpipes for the main engine raw water thru-hull inlets. The 17-series torch that came with my Alpha-TIG 200X is only rated for 150 amps, and I'm going to need all 200 amps from the Alpha-TIG to weld these 2" aluminum standpipes in.

But I couldn't justify the expense of a fancy new liquid TIG cooler. Even at the lower end of the price range, they're $270 and reportedly these Made In China units don't last long (especially the pumps). So I got myself a Little Giant air conditioner condensate pump, a bucket with a lid, and a few fittings and made my own cooler. Total cost: $53, including glycol antifreeze. Total assembly time: ~30 minutes.

It works great!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: $50 Home-Made TIG Torch Cooler

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Well, I'm pretty much resigned to spending one last winter in this boatyard. My painter just found another line of cracks where the Interlux filler that didn't adhere to the substrate under the lower rub rail.

For several years I'd occasionally tinker with the original helm windshield opener. I repaired some broken spots in the cover for it a few years back, and I finally got it mechanically squared away. Recently I was polishing some stainless and decided to knock out the WS opener, too. It turned out real nice, so I went ahead and installed it just to get it out of the way.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Rebuilding the Helm Windshield Opener

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

[q240z]

Having proper shore power working before the boat splashes is a priority. There are all sorts of modern requirements for marine electrical systems, and none of them is cheap. Also, the original isolation transformer on my boat apparently died sometime between 1985, when it landed on Purgatory Row at the boatyard where it went to die, and 2007, when we bought the Roamer for $1.

So after weighing out all the various factors and options, I decided on Bridgeport Magnetics torroidal isolation transformers and FactoryMation miniature circuit breakers for the 50 amp D-curve main shore power disconnect/breaker. I'll write about the transformers next time. This article just covers the main breaker installation, which turned out very nicely.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Main Breaker Install

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

The Bridgeport Magnetics isolation transformers arrived, and they're WONDERFUL (mostly).

I now have a functioning alternating current electrical system. I've got 240VAC to the distribution panels, and there was zero smoke or drama when I powered the system up. This is almost, like, a disturbance in The Force. I thought I was destined to experience tragedy when I delved into powerful things I know not enough about, even when I follow the schematics...

Anyway, my boat doesn't hum anymore when shore power is plugged in, and the output is perfectly balanced 250/125VAC. It's astonishing!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing 12kva Bridgeport Magnetics Marine Pucks!

Cheers,
Q

Gettin' Egyptian


The final result

[q240z]

I've been recommissioning the AC electrical system in order, from the shore power inlet and cables, to the main breaker, to Marine Pucks. The main electrical panel was next up, including selectively activating breakers so I have power available in each space from the onboard wiring. That allowed me to stop using the extension cords I've had strung all over the boat for the last ten years.

It felt very good coiling them up and taking them home. But I'm going to have to have a garage sale for all these extension cords and other stuff I won't be needing anymore as the project winds down. lol

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Electrical Panel

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Ever since I installed the Cummins 6CTA engines, I've been keeping in the back of my head what I should do about the Isspro Turbocator (dual read-out boost/exhaust temp) gauges. I had a few ideas about replicating the OEM tachometer housings, but the more I thought about it that just didn't seem feasible. Then I decided I also want to know what my gear oil pressures are, so that's another two gauges I needed to find homes for. The helm station radio box is full, and having them down below the dashboard makes them fairly out of sight, which also means out of mind.

I was also keeping in mind that somebody prior to 1985, when the boat was moved to Purgatory Row, had drilled and cut an ugly rectangular hole right in the top of the dashboard, between the two tachometer housings. What if I could make a housing that fit all four gauges AND covered that big hole?!?

So I took some scrap 1/8" aluminum plate from when I cut up an old but unused holding tank that I bought for cheap and made a custom instrument panel. I also tossed in some LED telltale lights for the forward and aft bilge pumps. Don't stare too closely at the TIG welds...or if you do, please be gentle with the comments. Saying I'm a weekend warrior welder is a gross overstatement, and I taught myself how at a fairly advanced age, so I just don't have the robotic muscle memory of some pros I've seen.

On the other hand, I'd put my welds up against many of the so-called pros in my neck of the woods.

Anyway, I think it turned out pretty good, all things considered.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making a Custom Instrument Panel

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

While I was running the wires and boost tubing for the new instrument panel I made, I also cleaned up and labeled the OEM wiring. If you've got a schematic to look at, I'm sure numerical wire identifiers make sense. But intuitive labels so you can know what you're looking at with a glance is a lot better. Once that was done, I installed the instrument panel, turned both keys to RUN so the gauges had power, and switched the bilge pumps to CONSTANT, which means they're manually switched on. Up at the helm station, the gear oil gauge needles dropped to zero, which is where they should be with ignition on, and the bilge pump telltales were on.

It works!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Custom Instrument Panel

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

With all but three holes buttoned up below the waterline, it was time to roll on some new bottom paint. While sanding in preparation for paint, we found another crack in that very expensive Interlux epoxy filler used by the first "marine craftsman" I had work on the boat. Once again, we don't know if it was faulty product or bad mixing, but the crack happened in a low-stress area with no welds in the region. My painter fixed the crack just fine, and I'm glad we found it; it was 95% below the waterline, so splashing would have allowed water to get under the paint and filler and spread havoc.

Anyway, two coats later (three from the chine up), it looks great!

To make space to paint the transom, and since we don't need it anymore, I removed all of the scaffolding behind the transom. This is all good progress toward splashing before long.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Bottom Paint

Cheers,
Q