1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[Bob Quinn]

Very nice work! It's almost artwork
Are those all S.S. pipe fittings? If so where did you find them, I have neve seen SS t's and such like that!
Thanks,
Bob

[q240z]

Thanks!

Yes, they're all 304 stainless (at least, that's what the stamps on the castings say). Brass and bronze would have been easier, but this Roamer is an aluminum boat. The only places I found pitting in the hull when I started the refit were under and around copper lines and exposed bronze. So I've de-coppered the boat to the extent possible and don't care what ABYC says about it.

Unfortunately, ebay was my primary source for pipe fittings and, with the exception of the outstanding Swagelok (Made in USA) fittings I used for tubing connections, China was the supplier. Needless to say, the quality was spotty and I found it's best to run a tap or die over the threads of every single connection before attaching things. It was amazing how much material my Rigid NPT tap and die set (old school, Made in USA) removed from the brand new Chinese fittings.

I haven't drawn diesel through the system yet, so I'm still crossing my fingers that she'll be tight and dry when that day comes...which should be soon.

[rsmith]

Used to be this stuff called Tite Seal the aircraft mechanics used on fuel tank fittings but I haven’t seen it for years.

[q240z]

I got the 1/2" 304 stainless fuel supply line bent and installed on the port side. The starboard side is a shorter run, with the on-engine hose connecting directly to the distribution manifold. I also bent the two supply lines that go from the bulkhead fittings to the fuel filter inlets.


It's coming together! It's entirely possible I'll be able to splash in late October!


1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Bending & Installing Stainless Fuel Supply Tubing


Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I shifted gears from the fuel system to the Fischer Panda 12kw generator, which has been sitting on the port engine stringers, same place as the original Kohler gasoline-powered unit, since 2009. I realized a few years ago that the boat was going to have a bad list to the port side because too much heavy stuff ended up being on that side. All of it--washer/dryer, air conditioners, black water holding tank--made individual sense placing them where I did, but cumulatively the port side is just too heavy. So I decided to move the genset to the other side of the boat. That raised a few engineering challenges, but I came up with an approach that I think will work well. This is an unusually text-heavy post, but there's a video at the bottom of me getting Egyptian and rolling the 420 pound genset (one-handed!) from the port to starboard stringers.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fischer Panda Marine 12 Mini DP Genset

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

With the Fischer Panda generator on the starboard side, I got busy making new vibration-isolated mounts. I'd made a set when I first craned the genset into the boat, but they were too short for what I had in mind now. Instead of being centered over the engine stringers, the new mounts offset the genset so it's further outboard. That creates space for exhaust hose routing, it moves 420 pounds even further starboard (which will help avoid the boat leaning to port), and it'll make the vented loop hose routing cleaner and out of the way. This is good progress toward splashing in October.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: New Mounts for the Panda Genset

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

[jim rosenthal]

Nice work. I remember seeing a F-P genset running at the Annapolis Boat Show one year. It was on a table with a tank of water to cool it. It made about as much noise as a toaster.

[GCSI]

What did you use on the stainless threads? We did a lot of work in the chemical industry always had problems with sealing SS pipe threads. It was a problem with the threads galling from what I remember.

Was at Depco retrieving a pump this morning. Asked about SS Threads: they use Loktite 561

[q240z]

Nice work. I remember seeing a F-P genset running at the Annapolis Boat Show one year. It was on a table with a tank of water to cool it. It made about as much noise as a toaster.

Thanks!

It's good to hear firsthand confirmation of what Panda's sales brochures claim.

[jim rosenthal]

You could not tell it was running.

Does yours have a water coil around the generator end? I've read that some do, but from what I could see of yours in the photos, I didn't think so.