ya, you heard right.. the robin's egg blue paint the engine rebuilders used is always sticky and will come off and stick to anything that touches it: sparkplugs, wires, rag, bolts, nuts, tools, fingers, the lot!.

my suspicion is that the paint becomes sticky only when the engine has been warmed up for a while. as i've temporarily left a few wrenches in that area while working in the engine bay when the engine is not particularly hot and don't recall any paint on them.

the rebuilder when picking up the car after the rebuild mentioned that the blue paint between the cam covers had gotten on a few of the plug wires near the spark plugs, as i recall. i assumed at the time that they had accidentally and prematurely tried to install the wires before it dried, right? so was not particularly concerned in that it could be easily removed from the wires if necessary.

now, a month or so later, while removing the plugs on the warmed up (temp gauge 70 deg Celsius) engine the other day. i noticed that ALL the blue paint was very sticky and anything that touched it was covered in the blue paint. it was coming off as if the paint had been applied only hours before. of course, i'm going to call them and ask what's up, but more importantly what kind of paint it is.

has anyone had this experience, and if so, was there any satisfactory solution?

i'm in the process of doing some research as to why it's happened and what to do about it, and so far, i've found some indication that spraying it with Mineral Spirits (a type of highly refined turpentine) may cure the paint. but my suspicion is that if true it would only be true if it's an oil based paint. hence, the answer from the builder as to what kind of paint it is will be important. i have yet to see its condition when the engine is completely cold. not that it will make any difference in whether it needs fixing.

i'm going to guess at this time, subject to contrary evidence, that the temperature was too low when painted or painted with too much paint, and/or without sufficient drying time between coats (similar to "too much paint"). and because it's sticky every piece of dust and dirt that touches it remains there, it's already a bit unsightly...smh.

geesh!

 

Clean it all off and get a spray can of the right stuff from Barratts. It's obviously the wrong oil based paint.

 

... also make sure there's absolutely no oil around before painting.

 

thanks guys for the input...

contacted the rebuilder and inquired about the paint. they knew they had a problem and said it was the paint supplier and were happy to tell me that they were changing their source, which was of no interest to me, of course. but they did tell me that the paint was oil based.

their recommendation with regard to fixing it was to clear coat over it. ...that's not happening AFAIC. first of all i don't think it would work and i don't want an additional coat of paint to remove.

so, now that i'm somewhat certain that the paint is oil based, i'll spray it with some mineral spirits, which is easy enough and will soon evaporate and even if it doesn't do the job, at least removal and repainting will be no more difficult than would have been otherwise.

BTW, i have no idea about the paint on the block, because there's more than enough evidence to suspect that it too is defective, but i'm not sure i even WANT to know.

but the truth is, if they suspected the paint used on the block was also defective and were the kind of outfit that was concerned about their reputation, they would have me drive back to idaho, put my up in a motel for a few days, pull the engine and repaint the whole thing, then spring for my food, lodging and travel expenses...but THAT's not happn'n, although wouldn't cost them more than 10% of my cost for the rebuild.

like i said the robin's egg blue paint's already a bit janky looking, but if the "mineral spirit treatment" works i'd probably be satisfied. but if not, i'll probably strip it one of these days and repaint. they said they'll send me a pint of the new paint when it comes in, but i'm not holding my breath, and probably wouldn't use it anyway, you know, "once bitten twice..." and all that.

 

Stripping the old paint.
If the "mineral spirit" doesn't work, then there are alternatives to try. (All are highly flammable)
Common lacquer thinners as used for acrylic lacquers.
Acetone which is available from automotive paint suppliers
Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) which is used in aviation fabric finish rejuvenation. NOT MEKP which is used in fibre glass accelerants.
All of these can affect your cars body paint so be sure none gets spilled on it.
Also be careful about fumes. i.e. wear a mask and no smoking or electrical spark activity.

 

thanks bill, i'll keep those in mind when my mineral spirits spritzing solution fails...and i predict it will, but it's so easy and cheap that i gotta try.

 

Barratts sell in rattle cans.

 

Cass can give you some good examples of Duck Egg Blue. This is an internet shot.

 

8 to 1 S Type 3.8.





Duck Egg Blue 3.4 ~ bit bright

 

I've no experience of paint that doesn't dry, but I thought the idea of the mineral spirit (is that what we call white spirit in the UK?) was that it somehow helps the paint to dry. Personally, I'd try to avoid removing the paint for a few reasons. Any chemical that actually works is horrible for your health. Scraping the old paint and applying fresh on the cylinder head of an installed, built up engine is going to be difficult and messy and probably cause more problems. If the mineral spirit doesn't work (give it a few goes), I'd leave everything for a few months and hope that engine heat (and perhaps some sunlight) serves to set the stuff.

 

i have many years of experience tolerating and living with the unsightly and unattractive, and so am in no hurry to get started on fixing this little mess, believe you me. haha

 

White spirit in Australia was a basic petroleum product i.e. like petrol without any additives and was used extensively in "dry cleaning". A fellow apprentice in the late 1950s used to run his pre-WW2 Vauxhall on a 50/50 mix of white spirit and pump petrol. There was no road tax/excise on white spirit, so it was half the price.
Mineral spirit used to refer to mineral turpentine which was a thinner for enamel-based paints. It is also a handy cleaner for small parts.
It is interesting to compare different countries names for the same product.
eg England uses the name "paraffin" for Australian named "kerosene"

 

and don't forget Naptha...ha