by John Logan in the June 2005 RootesReview
When you are in the process of reassembling your Sunbeam or any other piece of machinery and you are bolting pieces together that have heavy paint under the bolts, nuts or washers, the paint will creep out under the high compressive force and the bolt will lose it’s torque. Very thin paint is no problem but the thicker the paint the greater the problem. In some cases you can see the paint build up around the bolt as it squeezes out.
To eliminate the torque loss, without removing the paint, just re-torque the bolts or nuts periodically, after assembly until you see that the bolts or nuts will take the torque without turning. Normally, the creep will be finished within the first few hours or days unless the paint is unusually thick or hard.In modern automotive applications, cone shaped washers with very high contact stress at the outer circumference are often used to get through the paint while it is being torqued.