TOPIC:

Using the zip tie trick to swap valve shims, I drop the zip tie.
That thing is in there.
I've tried fishing around with stuff, and even the shop vac. No luck.
I'm prepared to pull the head if I have too (could use new valve seals anyway) but thought I'd see if anyone had any brilliant ideas. . .

Move it to TDC and use hemostats?
Steve

Metal things can be fished out with a magnet, plastics not so easy.

I'm thinking, even if you can't get it out in one piece surely a nylon zip tie will just get mangled in there- unlike a metal object that could cause a lot of damage.

Any chemists here that could recommend a solvent that would melt the (nylon ?) zip tie without damaging the head gasket or internals?

Perhaps a bore scope and long tweezers.
There are inexpensive small bore scopes available that plug into a usb port on laptop or tablet.
Imagine being a surgeon watching progress on-screen in the O.R.

Good Fortune!

What about one of those retractable-claw grabby things? A small one should fit through the spark plug hole.

You can Plasti-dip the claw to prevent scratches, and of course be mindful of the plug threads while you're using it, but it might be better than pulling the head.

Maybe the shaft could be wrapped in electrical tape to protect the threads.

Inexpensive pencil size retractable claw grabbers are believed to be readily available.

It might help to squirt puffs of compressed air into the spark plug hole to blow the tie wrap around inside there in hopes of getting random alignment of a grab-able section of the tie wrap visible and accessible through the spark plug hole.

If the tie wrap is already formed into a loop --- which probable isn't the case -- a short length of wire with one end bent into a hook shape might suffice to hook and pull the tie wrap back up through the hole.

Good Fortune!

Tyrell Corp wrote: surely a nylon zip tie will just get mangled in there

No that zip tie can bend valve's, crush ring land's and poke hole's in a piston if he starts it their a lot tuffer then you think.

That's why I will never try that method. With my luck it would me me.
Steve

I won't be starting the engine with that in there. I can't even gently roll it to tdc, something jams up. Once it cools off (the weather) i'll try jiggling w/ shop vac, If i could see it, it would be easy. I'll get it. Note to self, next time use longer zip tie. It worked flawlessly 8 times when I was checking lash, but as soon as somebody starts talking to me while I'm working. . .
This bike fights me every step. Hopefully that makes riding it more fulfilling.

Thanks for the tips guys. I bet I'll try them all.

Crochet hook? Bent wire tight enough to grab the zip tie head? Fish around long enough and you will get it out. This happens to the best of us. Patience and persistence are your best tools for the job.

Well, I got it. I Gorilla taped a carb cleaner spray tube to an old jet needle, spun it around till I knocked the zip tie close to the hole, then fished it out with a precision bent wire hanger. Woohoo!

retterath wrote: Well, I got it. I Gorilla taped a carb cleaner spray tube to an old jet needle, spun it around till I knocked the zip tie close to the hole, then fished it out

Very nice!

with a precision bent wire hanger. Woohoo!

Many years ago I used the same sort of wire hanger engineering to make a new carb linkage for an old VW.