1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[q240z]

Thanks, Guys!

The engine install should finally wrap up over the winter, and I've got a bunch of interior stuff I've been working on but haven't written about. Life keeps getting in the way!

Cheers,
Q

[jim rosenthal]

Quentin, the Roamer for sale is a 57 foot model. The listing doesn't contain performance figures. You might email SeaEric off line and he can give you an idea of her performance with those engines, same ones you have.

I've seen this boat many times and she is a showpiece- absolutely lovely boat.

[q240z]

Holy smokes! She's a beaut!
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1966.../United-States

[jim rosenthal]

She IS. This is a boat that was always well taken care of, and had judicious and suitable updates done right. She's a sweetheart.

[q240z]

With those teak decks, she needs to stay in a shed.

In other news, I posted another blog on the steering project.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Hydraulic Steering II

Cheers,
Q

[sabaugebenz]

While I haven't done this yet, I spoke to Mike at Sam's Marine and he gave me a reference for custom fiberglass frames. The guys name is Broadus Rose.

[q240z]

I considered the FRP frame approach but finally decided on welded and painted aluminum. To keep the windshield frames consistent with the bow seat windows, I'm going with Motion Windows again.

[q240z]

I got the props back from the prop shop, and they're ready to install. It's a bit of a guess whether or not they're even in the ballpark, but this set came with the boat and the prop gurus think they'll be good enough for the seatrial next year (keeping fingers crossed).

One thing that surprised me was that I couldn't find any Prussian Blue to check the fit. Not a single auto parts store in my area carried it. They can order it, but it's not on the shelf. Most of the counter people I spoke with didn't even know what Prussian Blue is. I ended up ordering online, and even that took ten days to get here.

What is this world coming to???

Anyway, here's the latest-- 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Props

Cheers,
Q

[Avenger]

Next time try asking for Dykem. MSC and McMaster carry it as would any machine shop supply house.

Oh, and your prop nuts are on wrong.

[q240z]

HA! I wondered if anybody would mention the nuts.

I was surprised when I temporarily installed the props loose on the shafts. The nuts didn't fully seat up against the step up to the taper. The small nut went up to about 3/16" away from the step when tightened by hand; the big nut got tight 1/4" away. That worked out to a 1/16" gap and 1/8" gap, respectively, between the nuts and the prop hubs. I tossed the small nut on and snapped the pic without thinking about proper nut order. When I removed the nuts, there was a bit of brass shavings left behind.

It turned out that the threads that were cut on the shafts become inconsistent as they get to the end, where they're cut off just before the taper step. A buddy of mine who just had his props and shafts replaced had the exact same situation. In my whole life, I'd never installed new nuts on props, so I'd never experienced that situation.