That's what I was thinking

 

Ok...pulled the pan and splash shield and found nothing. Looked up the oil holes everything was clear. Checked the head with a magnet 3 more times ...nothing. I'm goingvto say the flew out or wedged somewhere in the bay....I don't know what else to check....think I'm safe??

 

When i did the job i saw a retainer fall between the runners on the intake manifold. Wasn't able to find it after that. If nothing is in the pan or head you should be good to go.

 

Yeah, sounds like a "cross your fingers and start her up" scenario. More than likely the retainer is sitting in some wiring and you'll find it two years later when doing something else, lol.

 

Check above front crossmember area, that's where mine went. Spent days looking there, found in on accident when I dropped a socket and saw it land there lol.

 

Got the cams and everything back on. Cranked it around a few times by hand everything felt smooth and no odd sounds

 

Checked the valved today only 2 needed adjusted. Everything else was in spec. Fired it up let it idle for about 25 mins everything sounds good.