I was setting up the clamp for the distributor and i was threading in the bolt before i put the distributor in and it fell down the hole. what do i do? i tried to get it with a magnet but it fell deeper. i don't know what to do, i'm pretty well scared right now.. it's an 86' berlinetta.

 

keep working on it untill you get the bolt out, one way or another

 

i hear talk of it being somewhere in the oil pan so I'm going to see if that brings me anywhere.

 

dont feel to stupid i dropped a wrench down there once when i was replacing an engine in my fathers truck , its a little bigger than a bolt so it didnt fall in to far. good luck!

 

20 bucks for an intake gasket.

gamble on the amount of time and frustration it takes to fish it out or spend an hour doing the intake

 

that bolt most likely fell all the way down to the pan, taking the intake off isnt going to help can you see down the distributor hole if its laying on top of the oil pump shaft? i would get that bolt out one way or another even if it means dropping the oil pan, this is why when there is no distributor in my car there is a rag stuffed in the hole.

 

you can't get the bolt out the oil pan bolt hole. it won't fit.
You can drop the pan far enough to get into it, without jacking up the motor.

Can you shine a light down there and still see it? It'll be in the pan, but if it's still right below the distributor, then removing the intake might be your best bet. That's the lowest part of the pan, so it's doubtful it went far away from right below the distributor. Of course a telescoping magnet would be your best bet for removal.

If you can't fish it out that way, then put a 2x4 on your jack, remove the motor mount bolts, and jack up the engine a few inches, and put some wood below your motor mount tabs to keep the engine up, while you remove the jack. This is harder than it sounds, since you have to raise the engine A LOT to be able to totally remove the pan. I sincerly hope it doesn't come to this

 

the first thing you need is to be able to see in there.

take a small light bulb, like the ones that go in your dash. then get some speaker wire & open up the wire loops a bit on the bulb & stick the speaker wire through and twist it, tape up each one individually so the wires won't short together & then tape them both up, let the tape come up on the base of the bulb. hook the other end up to your battery. you now have a small drop light that will fit into the distributor hole so you can see in there.

you don't use the socket the bulb fits in, just the 194 bulb.

 

if you think it went into the oil pan I would drain the oil before you do any of that.

take a small hammer and tap the bottom of the oil pan and see if it bounces around

 

yeah, last night (this morning, whatever) i tried using a magnet but that's what made it go all the way down because the damn magnet was too strong, haha.. yeah, so I'm just going to take of the oil pan. as for a visual, I don't know where it is now, it sounded like it fell pretty far the second time.

 

Sounds like you're pretty sure it went all the way into the pan.

If you're not certain whether to pull the pan or the intake, there's a way to check. Drain the oil, get a stiff piece of wire (coat hanger?) and bend it at a 90-degree angle. Put it in the drain hole and feel around for it.

 

Or use that magnet and move it around the bottom of the pan until you hear the bolt dragging around in there...

 

If you are sure that it's in the oil pan... I'd just glue a strong magnet on the outside of the oil pan and let the bolt stay in there for a few years until there's a need to pull the pan. It won't hurt anything as long as it's stuck in the magnetic field, and a LOT easier than dropping the pan to get it out.

 

True, but you better make sure it's in the pan before you try to start it...

 

i like this idea...simple and effective.....tao

 

I know that you say at the top this thread that you were using a bolt, but was it a stud for the clamp so that you could use lock washer and nut instead of a bolt? I'm thinking if it is a stud, then you could probably use the magnet through the drain plug hole. I use a stud arrangement on my car.

 

What damage will the bolt do if you just leave it in there? In my mind, I see the bolt laying in the lifter gally along with my buddy's 3/8 socket wrench he thought one of us stole from him! He found it 2 yrs later, well ludricated and ready to use.