1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[jim rosenthal]

My metal boat, the 44' Striker, only had the measuring part of the CAPAC system, not the impressed current feature. You have the entire package, good for you.

[q240z]

The only things not protected by the CAPAC system will be the shafts and props. They're isolated by the ShaftSavers I installed. I may eventually install shaft wipers to bond them with the rest of the underwater metal, but initially I'll just use conventional zincs.

In other news, I've been working on the sliding helm doors off and on for three years. Finding hardware that will work in this application has been far more challenging than I thought it would be. After two false starts, I finally found slider tracks that will work. They're linear motion tracks from PCB Linear. There are no moving parts. The tracks and traveler cars are anodized aluminum, and the bearing material that lines the contact surface of the traveler appears similar to delrin. They slide very smoothly, with almost no friction. I'll use two cars per track, with a piece of 316 stainless angle connecting the two. The doors will sit on the angle, with screws holding them in place.

Once the doors are installed, the boat will be very close to weatherproof.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Helm Doors II

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I've been making progress on the refit when I'm not swamped with case filings in my various employment-related lawsuit and other claims. I haven't had time to post anything recently but thought I'd give a quick refit heads-up.

After a bunch of nonsense with the fuel system that I'll cover in more detail later, I finally got the starboard engine fuel circuit nailed down and was recently able to light it off. The idle is rock-solid, gauges show good oil and gear pressure, and the tach appears to be working fine. I plan to dismantle the tent the first week of June and will splash the boat as soon as the surveyor and insurance company clear it for launch. There are more details at the linked blog page and also a video of it starting and running. I can't figure out how to make my video link work here.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Engine Runs!

Cheers,
Q

[jim rosenthal]

Welcome back, glad you are still at it and making progress. Let me know if I can come down and help you.

[drburke]

I believe those new Morse throttle badges made all the difference.

Congrats, Quentin!
DAN

[q240z]

HA! That must be it, Dan! lol

Seriously, I've never had a boat engine start that quickly. Hell, even my car takes more cranking on the starter before it lights off. There must be magic in them medallions!

[rsmith]

Good luck hopefully this is the year she sees splash down

[q240z]

Thanks rsmith! It looks like the second week of June, unless the surveyor nixes it for some reason.

I was so excited about the starboard engine lighting off and running perfectly that I posted the video of it a bit out of sequence. I wanted to go back and explain what's happened since November of last year as I dealt with leaking fuel that had to be fixed before I could try another test run.

When I tried to do the first engine test fire last fall, I found two major fuel leaks: one was a crack in the return fuel line coming off the injection pump; the other was at the mechanical lift pump on the engine. Cummins didn't design these engines with easy injection pump maintenance as an objective, and there's no way to replace the cracked return line without removing the injection pump from the engine. I came up with a workaround using a Swagelok fitting that I think will work just fine.

I also bought a new lift pump and painted it white before installing it. Now it's the prettiest part of the whole engine and gear. lol

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fuel System Fixes

Cheers,
Q

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