1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

HA! Could be, but the missus has all sorts of house projects in mind. Turns out lots of tools and machines I've acquired to do this project can be used for home uses, too! Mahogany kitchen cabinets, for example. :p

It's been almost six years in the making, but I finally started wrapping up reassembling my portholes. I'm using a bunch of different approaches than the OEM did, mostly with materials that weren't available in 1969. There's also the matter of the level of care in assembly. A mass production OEM supplier isn't likely to apply Tef-Gel to every machine screw before installing it. I also used Slick Strips to protect the paint where the latch dogs clamp the window frame closed. And those silicone gaskets I'm making turn out really nice. Fully assembled, they're much better than the OEM. One down, eleven more to go!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Porthole Upgrade Success!

Cheers
Q

https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...porthole22.jpg

Done
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...porthole25.jpg

Looks great when the headliner is done that's going to make a huge difference and the light at the end is going to be much brighter ;)

I need to post my project this winter I too am spending it in a Bubble :p

Dan

Nice work. If you're going to be OCD, you might as well use it to make your boat beautiful, right?

Thanks guys! The headliner installer is coming out this weekend to assess things. I'm guessing I'll have at least some headliner installed by May.

Jim, I think OCD gets a bad rap sometimes. Being careful so you never have to do a miserable job ever again...how's that a bad thing?

It is not a bad thing, not to mention the safety it adds.

Agreed.

I got the short panels installed between the frames in the aft stateroom. That's good timing since the Whisper Wall installer is coming out this weekend to assess the situation and let me know when he wants to start.

Booya.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep IV

Cheers,
Q

https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03553.jpg

I got the ceiling corner pieces installed at the transom. Now there's a continuous surface for the Whisper Wall headliner track to mount to around most of the aft stateroom. It's not terribly exciting but it's progress. And just in time, too. The headliner installer showed up over the weekend to check things out. He pointed out a couple of places I need to finish up but said he's ready to start anytime.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep V

Cheers
Q

https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03594.jpg

https://i0.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03600.jpg

He should be a happy man with this perfect canvas to work on..... (Pun intended....)

He's happy when the check clears. Everything else is noise. lol

For a change of scenery, I left the aft stateroom alone for a bit and started prepping the salon ceiling for the headliner tracks. I've mentioned before a few times that I think something heavy was dropped on the cabintop back when the boat was repowered in the 1972...and I believe that something was one of the original engines. Turns out that incident threw a bunch of the salon ceiling frames out of alignment. So I had to make filler pieces that will allow the perimeter headliner track to align with the tracks that will attach to the ceiling framing. I think it turned out OK, and since I glued and screwed it all together, it's more robust now than it was just having the frames screwed together.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Headliner Prep

Cheers,
Q

Seriously out of alignment
https://i0.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03639.jpg

Everything nicely aligned and ready for headliner track
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03661.jpg

The headliner will butt up against finished walls and fascia panels all around each room on the boat, so I need to get all the fascias installed. Unfortunately, one of the original mahogany boards at the entryway to the salon was cracked badly. It snapped in half when we removed it. I thought about gluing it back together, but it had some chunks missing from previous abuse. Instead, I used the old board as a pattern and made a new one. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Entryway Panel

Cheers
Q

The old, busted board.
https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...4/DSC03708.jpg

The new board next to the old.
https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...4/DSC03768.jpg