When removing the valve cover seal i dropped the little metal insert down into where the camshaft is. I can not see it.

Any advice before I make my life even harder?

 

As you probably know, don't start that engine without finding it first. Worst case (hopefully), you'll need to remove the intake.

 

It wont be started ... it fell down that gap

 

A very large magnet????

 

I cant even see it

 

Tough luck. Ideally, if you had a flexible scope that would fit in there you could look for it on top of the camshaft or crankshaft, if it is there. You might get lucky with a magnet on rod. However, you will almost certainly have to drop the oil pan and search for it. You might get lucky with a magnet on a bent piece of wire and fish around through the oil drain.

 

Could it end up in the sump if say i took a quart of oil and ran it through the hole?

 

It is probably there already, if you are planing on dropping the pan don't bother with the oil. You should be able to find it without flushing. If you leave the pan and try to fish it out, try fishing it out before adding more oil. I am assuming the oil is already drained. It will be less messy. If you still have oil in the pan then you can drain it and use it as a flush where it fell through. If you drop the pan after a flush attempt it will drip off the engine after pan removal unless you wait a good while.

 

Are the other ones attracted to a magnet? We have people post about finding these in the oil sump. Once it went past the cam, there is a "tray" that keeps wind from crankshaft from frothing up all the oil. That tray has a big opening that the pickup goes thru to the sump. May be in the sump, or just stuck to sludge on the way there, even on top of pickup. 87 bolts later you'll know. Certainly an oil drain might bring it out.

 

Pulled the sump. No metal ring. Should I just start dumping oil down there until i get something?