Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
Big News! I set up my own domain! http://1969chriscraftroamer46.com is now online.
I'd been bothered by some things at wordpress.com for a while, and recent complaints about the intrusive ads WP pushes inspired me to move to my own site. This will be my last post at the old blog.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Moving the Blog
See you on the new site!
Cheers,
Q
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
It looks like some folks signed up for email notifications on my new site, so I guess that means it's working the way it's supposed to. I spent a lot of time redirecting links from the old Wordpress site to the new one. 435 articles took a lot of time to get squared away. I also found some pictures that were still being hosted from my original photobucket account, so I updated all of those, too. It was actually kind of cool going through the whole thing from start to finish. There were a lot of old posts I hadn't looked at in years. While it's neat to see all of the progress since we first started, I had to laugh at how many times I used to say "I hope to splash the boat later this year" or "next spring." :p What was I thinking???
Anyway, I realized that in my last couple of posts I was talking about installing LED light mount panels at a specific height to align them with the headliner tracks I'll be using, but I never showed what those tracks look like. Hopefully, this will make it clearer why I'm doing what I'm doing.
I also have been experimenting with different LED lights for the OEM Chris Craft light fixtures. Pro tip: 10w 12v corn bulbs off of ebay fit this style of fixture just fine, but the 12w and 15w ones are too big.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Headliner Tracks & LED Bulbs
Cheers,
Q
Whisper Wall tracks
https://i0.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...2/DSC03536.jpg
15w bulb is too fat
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...2/DSC03392.jpg
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
After looking into the options for porthole gaskets, I decided to make my own using 00-50 Shore hardness silicone. While I'm waiting for the silicone kit to arrive, I made a mold.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Porthole Gaskets
Cheers,
Q
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03419.jpg
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
I love it when one can fabricate a cheaper AND better solution. Nice job.
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
Thanks! My time is free! :p
The silicone kit arrived. This looks like it's going to work out really well. The gasket came out of the mold easily and it fits the portholes almost perfectly. Now I just need to make 11 more, but I'll make them just a wee bit thinner than this one.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Porthole Gaskets II
Cheers,
Q
The kit
https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03556.jpg
In the mold
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03559.jpg
Test fitting in the porthole
https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03568.jpg
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
Very cool work and glad you are back at it. As the weather warms up, things will get done faster, I suspect.
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
I hope so, too!
I'm cranking out porthole gaskets at a tortoise-like pace but also getting panels installed for the Whisper Wall headliner tracks to attach to. The tracks will run all the way around the perimeter of the aft stateroom, so I've got a lot of small panels to make out of 3/4" plywood. And none of the gaps between frames are the same, even from port to starboard on the same frames!
It's a boat! Nothing's square!
Anyway, the first panel is also the biggest one and fairly complex, too. It's the one the aft head slider door hardware will attach to, and it turned out quite nice, I think. When everything's done, it won't be visible. But it's an important structural piece.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep
Cheers,
Q
https://i0.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03500.jpg
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
Now I'm cutting lots of little panels to go around the ceiling perimeter to give the headliner tracks something to attach to. Not very exciting stuff, but it's progress.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep II
Cheers,
Q
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03524.jpg
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
I got the plywood panels for the port-side aft stateroom ceiling cut and fitted. The corner piece was the most complicated, but my little Bosch router made the job much easier. It's not especially glamorous, but it's progress. The headliner installer will hopefully start working on it next weekend!
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Prep III
Cheers,
Q
Before
https://i2.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03531.jpg
After
https://i1.wp.com/1969chriscraftroam...3/DSC03533.jpg
Re: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit
This boat will be so beautiful when it's done. And you will be SO bored. LOL