I'm beyond frustrated. I have my engine out. I was going to put it back in Saturday. I have spent months cleaning it, sanding it, painting it, etc. I just put a new intake on, and I dropped a bolt into the distributor hole. I got my magnet thing out in the dark and stuck it down in, and the darn magnet broke off and is down in there somewhere!!!!!!! So I go get a flashlight and the bolt was right on top, I was able to get it with some pliers... I am thinking of taking the new manifold back off and seeing if I can get my fingers under the metal in the hole- it has to be down under there- it got snagged on something. But I'm not sure if I'll be able to reach it. I can replace motors, I can not rebuild them, and this is freshly rebuilt. What do I do?!??!?!!?!?!? It is a really small/strong magnet, if I can't reach it this weekend, could I just leave it in there? Or do I need to load it onto the truck and take it to get torn down and rebuilt AGAIN? I am really embarrassed to even ask this question. I have nowhere to turn but this board.

Again, I think the magnet is like 1/8" x 1/4" and is not down like just below the head area.. Like if you have the intake off, it is just a level below that, possibly stuck under the lip of the next hole down.. Hopefully I can reach it this weekend. I know a lot of people have dropped screws down there. Am I the first moron to get a magnet stuck in there?!?! Someone please slap me. I ALWAYS have holes taped off except for this ONE time- I had JUST put the new intake on and dropped the screw.. Grrrrrrrrrrr....

Id pull the intake off. depending on location I guess a magnet wouldnt really hurt as it'd get stuck somewhere. Its not going to damage bearings or anything. but if a moving part hits it. its hard to say if it would do damage. I think not. Pull the intake off and see. if you cant get it there pull the oil pan off and try to get it there. you should be able to one way or the other. maybe having to pull the oil pump off or something. Nothing too major IMO.

Thanks.. I pulled the intake back off, and reached my finger down into the hole. I found it! I can't get it out though! If you are standing behind the motor and put your finger into the distributor hole, you can feel it at 7 o'clock. I maneuvered it around until I could SEE a piece of it. It is on the end of a twirly gear close to the back of the motor. I tried to grab it with a coat hanger but could not. I got long skinny pliers and couldn't get it. Today I'll go to a medical supply place and see if anything there jumps out at me, maybe some long offset hemostats or something..

probably an earth magnet so it holds strong, need one stronger then it, well attached to a stick or pole

which probably what happened, it wasn't glued into the tool well first

You are correct! It was an "earth magnet"..

Tonight I am going to put some super glue on my finger, reach down in the hole and attempt to bond my finger to the magnet and pull it out! hehe

Don't use your finger. Use something that u can attached the super glue to other than your finger. Try a hanger that you can bend.

Well, I tried everything- it turned out that it was stuck to the cam. A buddy helped me remove the cam (& magnet). Thanks!

Desperate times call for desperate measures,I have heard of people doing stranger things.If it works it works.