Shopsmith Forums

Steve what was that, hanging out and doing Martinis with WBB?

Sorry about the keyboard, Steve! I've lost one or two myself over the years!

I got the tent uprights moved out on the stbd side and hung the skirt/side plastic all the way around. I've got three sunrise-to-sunset days into the tent transformation, and I figure I've climbed the ladder equivalent of halfway up Everest so far. This would go so much faster with a 4wd articulating high lift or, since there's no room between the boats to the right and forward, maybe a magic carpet with a strong winch.

The vapor barrier is looking good--I can see big drops of water forming all over the under-side of the clear plastic. That's good news, because my ShopSmith has been taking a real beating from condensation-related surface rust pretty much all over. Anyway, the skirt plastic is hung all the way around...I'm getting too old for this cr4p.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Tent Model XXX 2

Cheers,
Q

I finally wrapped up the tent remodel. I thought Tent Model X was pretty good, but XXX is a lot better. The vapor barrier made a huge difference, and using battens all the way around is keeping the shrink plastic film tight as a drum. My ShopSmith is in a much drier space. I'm ready for winter. Time to get back to making progress on the boat.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Tent Model XXX 3

Cheers,
Q

BTW, it was eight years ago that we really started digging into the project. Here's my post documenting what the missus and me did on New Years Day 2008. While on the one hand it's pretty wild to see how far its come, I can't help but wonder what the heck I was thinking. lol

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Deck Enclosure Demolition — Enter the Chainsaw

Cheers,
Q

Reading this makes me feel so much better about my 2+ year canoe build!

It looks like you are doing great work!

Thanks, algale! And Happy New Year!

Keeping up with tradition, I'm headed to the boatyard today. At this point, I don't see anything that will stop me from splashing the boat this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there won't be any asteroid strikes or alien invasions to throw me off schedule...again. But first, I've got to get the exterior sealed up, so today I'm going to take measurements for all of the new tinted glass I need. I also customized a data inlet to seal up another hole on the bow.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making a Data Inlet

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

I fired up my Miller Trailblazer welding machine and made myself a set of steps going into the engine room. I'm too old and don't practice enough to develop a smooth welding hand, but once I got the machine settings sorted out the old spoolgun started making that hissing sound and...it may not be professional weldor-grade, but it's good enough for a set of steps.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Engine Room Steps

Cheers,
Q

In other news, I started putting my portholes back together. I'm ordering new tinted glass soon, but first I need to get the screens in. I figured it'd be an hour or two job. Little did I know all of the screen and glass flanges are drilled differently. I didn't realize that when I took them apart, so figuring out which ones go where was a tedious PITA. Got 'er done, though.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Porthole Screens

Cheers,
Q

It took a ridiculous amount of time to measure the window and porthole glass and record the dimensions. Out of 26 panes, only 2 had 90° corners. I was hoping to buy a fancy new tool to make the process easier but couldn't find one that gave me confidence in its accuracy. But I got the job done and sent the order off to the glass shop yesterday. Hopefully, I'll have the new glass in the next two weeks or so.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Measuring For New Glass

Cheers,
Q

While I'm waiting for the glass to come back, I dove into the engine room for a bit of fun. My Cummins engines come standard with intake air heaters that help reduce white smoke on cold starts. Since I installed oil pan heaters in mine, and the Cummins units are known to be fickle and even harmful to expensive alternators, I got rid of mine. Good thing, too, since on the underside of one of the solenoids, totally out of sight, one of the solenoids was in the process of dying.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Removing Unnecessary Cummins Parts

Cheers
Q

Bad solenoid