Son of a....
 

So I thought I'd have my Z driveable by the end of this Labor day weekend, but it seems like lady luck has kicked me square in the nuts again. I was putting on my ARP head studs, and one of the washers slipped from between my fingers and fell down into the timing cover. :022: I tried to fish out the washer with one of those flexible magnet that extend, but I think it's too far down to get to it. It looks like I gotta take off the cover or the oil pan depending on where this stupid thing fell. So much extra work for what shoulda been an easy head gasket swap and rewiring job. Man I'm pissed right now.

Just focus on what it will be like once the machine is back on the raod.

depending on the size of the washer and where it ended up you should be fine if it fell strait into the oil pan. i had the washer from the cam sprocket fall into the oil pan and it didnt do a damn thing. just make sure to bump the motor over a few times to make sure that it didnt get caught on the sprocket on the crank.

theirs wierd lips and crap in the L motors that it can get caught on and later fall onto the timing chain and such, i lost a crank key in there once i tried dragging a magnet along the oil pan forever and then finally found it. i had the crank pulley off obviously and took out my oil seal (was just replaced anyway so came out easily) and there is was chillin. you could try lookin there first if you dont see it **** it and leave it in the pan you can get a washer sucked up or tossed anywhere unless its a small light one then the moving oil could make it float around from the crank. up to you. i doubt it will cause you a problem but for ease of mind id probably try to find it to haha.

i would guess it will be right there once you get the valve cover off. which won't be too hard!

valve cover? ummm we are talking about the timing chain cover.

.............. i'm an idiot.

I spent half the day looking for this washer, and it's definitely in the oil pan. I used a speaker magnet to find it. It's about the size of a nickel and too big to pull out from the oil drain plug, and I don't think it'll be light enough to float around in oil. I gotta have my Z up and running by Tuesday, or else I'm stuck driving my gas guzzling autocross 510 (19mpg highway sucks nuts for a ~100 hp POS) to work everyday which is 50 miles round trip.

Thanks for the suggestions and stuff guys. After reading what you all have had to say, I don't believe the washer will be a cause for catastrophe. Well, if something does go wrong, I'll know the exact cause though. :037: So I think I'll leave it as is, and drop the pan at a later date like during the holidays or something. Now it's just a matter of getting my Z's head back on, wiring in the JWT stuff, and installing some new gauges to keep tabs on the engine vitals so I have a more economical car to drive to work. Not to mention it also has a radio. :biggrin:

Zbrick, yeah I can't wait for my Z to be back on the road. I haven't driven it since April, but didn't have any spare time to work on it until this weekend. I'm anxious to feel 16 lbs of boost again. :023: Especially after driving my friend's 2jz powered GS300, it was like the biggest tease. :075:

I dropped a bolt down the timing cover one time. I got lucky and was able to get it out with one of those extendable magnets. It's surprising how many stories I've heard about bolts, washers, etc getting down into the pan.

if your worried about the washer moving around you could always get a magnet and stick it to the bottom of the pan and hold the washer in place and the magnet will also collect metal shavings if you have any.

i did that with my 79 mercedes 300sd when i dropped a washer in the pan and when i took off the pan there it was right where i wanted it to be

^^^ Nice!

On the bright side... you have ARP head studs now. :D

get an old harddrive and open it up, I know those magnets are really good.

just mount a magnet to the oil pan so it stays there, and get a new washer.

John, yeah dude just got your email...sucks! Yeah, man only suggestion was the magnet like everyone else is mentioning. Besides of course taking the oil pan off. :D And we all know how we all want to do that. :) Good luck bro...keep us posted.

Yep, nice and shiny and ready for boost. :037: I can't wait for the weekend so I can finish up my wiring work and fire her up for the first time in months. :023:

thats gonna feel sweet, mine was down for a year b4 it got running again. what a rush.

A year... sheesh! You guys need to be without a Z for multiple YEARS before you can feel my pain... :(

Haha yeah a year or more would kill me. I've got to wait another week so I can grab some injector connectors off a 70's Benz to match up with my new injectors. So this is gonna be a long week of waiting. I just hope my Z will fire up and run right so I can dyno this setup. Still gotta wire up my new water temp gauge as well, but that will be cake. :023:

Are you going with an aftermarket type or stock, with the gauge?

I'm going aftermarket like you did. I bought the Prosport warning light water gauge. I have it mounted in the little 3 gauge "tray," so all I need to do is mount it into the Z and wire up the sensor. I'll get the other two gauges in a little bit, but for now I'm going to focus on getting my Z back to being my DD. :biggrin:

Cool deal. :023: