Found that allen bit I lost at last!

[AyJay]

Oh dear. For the final part of my engine repaint, I took the cam cover off last weekend and found this

Details Allen bit found at last

Allen bit found at last

Asides from all the corrosion and road grit that accumulates after almost a decade of use, I found that allen bit that I was looking for 3 years ago nestling on a cam. That's the first time the lid's been off in 90k miles so it must have been in there all that time. Amazingly all the valves clearances were within spec. Just 3 were on the limit, but even so, still within spec. What an engine.

[b1k3rdude]

You were lucky beyond words, that by all rights should have ended in a munched engine.

Er.... now that I think about it, are you sure the allen bit wasen't stuck into the allen bolt in the middle of the shot(hence the colour, rust, condition) and it just happened to fall down onto the cam after you lifted the cam-cover out the way......

[dazza]

Brilliant hiding place, what else could you fit in there?

[red98]

   +1 

[AyJay]

It must have been lodged in the tunnel for the coolant outlet hoses and when I took the cover off it dropped onto the cam. I might start keeping all my tools there to free up space under the seat.....