Technical I think I dropped a lock washer in my flathead

Not 100% sure, but can't find the washer, & the fuel pump was off my fresh 59A. Pump push rod was still in the engine. Can't see it through the intake manifold. What the hell should I do now? Do I need to remove intake? Do I need to pull engine? Tell me it will be OK to ignore it.

 

Got a small dia. magnet? Go fishin'...

 

I'm not the guy that will tell you it will be ok. You need to find the washer........

 

You asked for it "It will be ok"

 

If it was mine I would find out for sure where it is

 

I've done that before. Pulled the motor down and then found the missing nut on the floor. Better to be safe than sorry.

sent via cl***room note. p*** it on

 

Considering what it takes to rebuild a flathead in time AND money, I think I'd dig around a bit.Washers are not part of the minimum daily requirement for run in. Good luck

 

Where would it go if you did drop it down the fuel pump hole? Would it end up in the pan? If so, try flushing it out with some gas or oil or something else. If it ended up in the pan I doubt it would hurt anything.

 

NO EFFIN WAY! I ran to True Value & bought a flexible magnet ($6.50) & started ruttin' around in there. Stuck that thing as far as it would go through the oil p***ages ( I think I hit the the cam), & VOILA! One lock washer on the end of my magnet. That, is the best present I could get today - It's REALLY my birthday today. 6/25/63 - 51 years old & still doin' **** like a teenager. I think it may be Miller time! BTW: my wife has forgotten my birthday, & we haven't been married 2 years. Unless she's just leaving me alone to work on my junk as a present...

 

buy one of those flex cameras from Harbor Fright (pun intended)

 

Time to get down on your hands and knees with a drop light and a magnet,sweep under the car,look all around the frame,,it may be laying on a external part of the car,,look until you find it,,if not you really need to start taking it apart.

Don't play like it never happen,that will be a expensive mistake. HRP

 

Good to hear it worked out, I would not want to worry about that one.

 

I would go....no run out and buy a lottery ticket.....I always say I would rather be lucky than good

 

not enough zinc on it to help the oil , I would get a magnet and drag the floor ( around tires is the biggest hiding spot ) then the engine compartment , then last go fishing in the motor .

 

I'm glad you found the washer. As for your wife forgetting your birthday, count your blessings and consider yourself lucky you don't have to tolerate the obligatory birthday s*x. Argh! What a drag having to do that on birthdays and major holidays.

 

NICE! It's time for the champagne of beers! Happy Birthday!

 

First he'll need to toss the washer he found on the floor!

 

That washer deserves a place on your keychain.

 

Amen Brother! Did the same thing to a brand new 327 in my Nova in 1977. Got tired of looking for one carb stud lock washer and went ahead and fired it up. Still remember that sound like it was yesterday. Nothing is so bad that you can't throw it all away and start over!

 

Glad to hear everything worked out well. HRP

 

Happy belated birthday!

 

I bought a '62 Olds when I was a kid. It had no carb on it, someone had stolen it. So I round up a used carb and replacement for the missing carb studs. It starts right up, after a few seconds it starts knocking and burning oil out one tailpipe. A quick compression test reveals NO compression in one cylinder. So off comes the head and I found the missing carb studs, all mashed into the piston and valves. The piston had a hole in it the size of a nickle. Lesson learned at an early age. I became a bug about acccounting for every piece of hardware when something was apart. Any possible point of entry is closed up with duct tape as well.

 

Happy birthday!
I once pulled the spark plugs out of my brother's Vega and one plug broke and dropped the small end right down the plug hole into the engine. He needed to report back to base the next day, so, I filled the cylinder with a light oil and cranked the engine over. Popped right out! Smoked for a day or so, but cleared up and ran good after that.

 

I actually drank Oly or Blitz when I was a teener. of course I do have 9 years on ya.

Good for you. You can't believe the things I have found when I pulled engines down. The most memorable are: a June bug in the oil pump pickup of a B/RB, a 10-32 screw embedded in the top of a piston if a Harley, piston rings (intact) if a 283 oil pan, and the most memorable a Whitworth wrench in the oil pan of a 261 GM. I still have the wrench.

Anyway good for you. You caught it before it did something catastrophic.

Oh and happy belated B-day, mine was the 18th.

 

Reminds me of the time I was adjusting valves on the race engine when the guy beside me at the shop broke a bolt. I watched the broken bolt head fly 6 feet across the shop, bounce off of the the the firewall and "swish" nothing but open oil p***age... Luckily I can pull the pan while the motor is in the Scout.

 

Well Happy birthday a day late.
I found out the hard way that a guy needs to check the bottom of his carb when he picks it up off the bench to put it back on the engine too. I didn't want to flip it over and shake up the stuff in the float bowls.

500 Cad pistons aren't exactly cheap either.

 

thanks for the well wishes from y'all. still having carb problems. should expect that when you have 3 of them I suppose. even though they were rebuilt & tuned by an old flathead expert. hoping to get it sorted out & get this thing ('39 Standard tudor) back on the street.

 

I was puttin the carbs on the rocketsled and was missing a lock washer. Against my better judgement I gave up looking and fired it up. Weird noise and immediately started missing on one hole. First plug I pulled had the contact mashed. I put a magnet in the hole and pulled out the missing washer bent like a taco shell! Regapped plug and she's ran fine since. It's nice to be lucky once in a while!RS59

 

Lucky is always better than good!

 

OK I found this in the oil when I drained the ****** in the newly acquired 34 roadster: It had sat for about 15+ years. I also pulled a mouse nest out of the gas tank.
How the hell did Alvin get inside my ******.