Dropped tap

[Gizmo]

I can't believe this just happened! I had just replaced a bad freeze plug in my 69 383 and was getting ready to bolt on the intake. Just to be on the safe side I was chasing the intake threads in the head when the tap slipped out of my hand. It dropped in the third opening in the block above the cam. It disappeared and fell into the motor. My question is, what are the chances in fell into the pan? Is there a windage tray in a 383 from the factory? Think I can fish it through the drain plug or would it get stuck in something on the way down like a winage tray? If it doesn't wedge itself on between a rod and a counterweight it should just drop in the pan right? Any ideas or am I screwed?

 

[Badvert65]

If it went into the 'center hole', then it is on top of the camshaft. From there, if it went further, it would drop onto the crank. I don't see how it could make it past the camshaft, but anyway you look at it, I think you are in a heap of trouble.
You should be able to look at the oil pan/block mounting and see the edge of the windage tray, if it has one. If it made it that far, and you didn't have a windage tray, I don't think it would hurt anything in the oil pan.

 

[hammond472]

That sucks! Maby a strong rare earth magnet on a coat hanger might help. Good luck with the recovery.

 

[Robliepse]

My brother dropped the wing nut down the carb of his Camaro in High School back in the early 80's at the car wash. The car was turned off and he immediately called dad cause he knew it was an issue. Well, Dad showed up, said it would be ok, turned the key and destroyed the motor. Not a word was said, the car was towed to the shop for some very expensive repairs.......LOL....and to this day it's a very sensitive / funny subject. Everyone but Dad still thinks its a funny story. I'll have to bring up this post during Christmas dinner here in a couple of weeks

 

[alsant]

Get a borscope , go in were you dropped it and you might be able to see it. May Atleast let you know were it sits in your engine.Good luck !

 

[69roadr]

holy crap! bet you couldn't do that on purpose.:angryfire: try every possible means to get it out through the hole first. good luck

 

[Gizmo]

I'm thinking it might be easier to pull the cam. That way I can see straight down where it went in, If that lobe had been in a different position it would have kept the tap from getting by. Bad luck all around.

 

[khryslerkid]

I would just go fishing with a telescopic magnet or a long flexible one, using a strong pen type of light, you might see it. Draining the oil pan first, you could fish around in there too. If it's not in there you might hear it drop if you happen to knock it down when fishing from up above...

Good luck!

 

[dvw]

Drain the oil. Take a strong magnet along the bottom of the pan towards the drain plug. If the tap's there it will pull it over. Being a 3/8" tap you should be able to fish it out the drain plug hole. I just used this method to get my broken valve spring pieces out of my pan. I found all the pieces. Not there? Then I'd be pulling the pan if I couldn't see it up top.
Doug

 

[aldal]

I thought stuff like that only happened to me....good luck.

 

[Budnicks]

Good luck with that...
sucks, really sucks,
I hope you can fish it out somehow,
otherwise it's just taking apart the engine for piece of mind,
get it out, before it costs much more & causes even more damage...

HP 383's do have a windage tray,
if so the chances it made it to the pan isn't great...

Bite the bullet, if you can't see it or fish it out somehow...

 

[bm02tj]

Been there done that I now always cover holes so I can save my self work

 

[747mopar]

I would just go fishing with a telescopic magnet or a long flexible one, using a strong pen type of light, you might see it. Draining the oil pan first, you could fish around in there too. If it's not in there you might hear it drop if you happen to knock it down when fishing from up above...

Good luck!

X2 on the telescoping magnet, I keep 2 different sized ones around and use them often.

 

[Jeremiah]

I agree with the magnet and flashlight technique. If all else fails drop the pan. A 3/8 tap should be easy to fish out if you can stick it.

 

[Moparsmitty]

This reminds me of something I did a long time ago when I was working in a busy shop. Every time I took an intake off an engine I would put shop rags in the valley to prevent the crud from scraping off the gaskets or small tools or parts from falling in the engine. Smart, right? Until one day I was in such a hurry that I forgot to pull the rags out before I installed the intake. When I fired the engine up I had no oil pressure and horrible loud lifter noise. It took a few seconds to realize what I'd done. What a mess. The rags had wrapped themselves around the cam and there were little bits and pieces everywhere inside the engine. I had to remove the intake and the oil pan, cut the rags wrapped around the camshaft and flush the engine several times to get all the crud out. It took me several hours to fix my mistake. Luckily the engine didn't show any signs of damage. Lesson learned. I was much more careful after that little episode. I'm sure some of you guys have done dumb stuff like this, right?

 

[Gizmo]

What's scary is that it doesn't seem dumb at he time. I had just removed the rags in the galley 1min. before. That thread chaser had to squeeze past the cam lobe and be perfectly parallel to the cam. It took 1 hop and disappeared. Never saw that coming. Can't fit anything around space between cam and block. Guess the pan is coming off. Any tricks I should know about?

 

[hunt2elk]

This whole thing sounds just like something that would happen to me lol. Just be thankful that you saw it drop in there instead of 'misplacing it' without knowing where you left it. That would have cost alot more.