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 is 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. its already a bit unsightly...smh.

geesh!