Hearing Martins tale of his loose tow bar reminds me of an incident
> which might (just, possibly, at a very outside chance) explain his > problem.
> Many years ago I rebuilt my car. It was my pride and joy and nothing
> was too much trouble. I bought a new bodyshell and transfered
> everything over to it, rebuilding or replacing every single component.
> Of course I painted everything I could possibly get with at least one
> coat of hammerite.
> When the project was complete I had a car that was as good as new,
> probably better in many ways. Over the next few months, almost every
> nut and bolt came loose. After a while I realised that painting
> evrything meant that components were seating on a layer of paint
> rather than being bolted up to solid metal. As vibration and operating
> stresses arrived, the paint gave way leaving things loose. The
> repeated spanner checks kept me amused for weeks.
> I realise you lot will say I should have simply wiped the rusty patina
> with an oily rag but I still maintain the end result was better, once
> things had settled down that is.
>
> John
Raises an interesting (and on topic!) question which ISTR has been aired in SEM before:- Assuming one is sufficiently disrespectful of history to want to paint an engine (-; should one do so before or after assembly? (Please note smiley)
Nick H