[rustyred]

In changing my valve cover, a small piece of the inner gasket lip has broken off. I'm a bit of a loss as to what to do next. I've searched everywhere with a flashlight for the missing piece; everywhere inside the head, around the engine bay, on the floor, etc, but haven't found it. After a few unsuccessful hours, I poured some oil into the head to see if anything would float to the top, then drained the pan again to see if I could catch it on the other side. This produced nothing.

Of course I've got another valve cover on order, but what next? Do I need to drop the oil pan?

Attached is a picture of the damage. Any assistance is much appreciated.

[Tyc0]

I would imagine it will be fine. I have heard of people dropping the oil pan and finding bolts they didn't know about for who knows how long. Worst case it gets somewhere it shouldn't it will surely be turned into dust before hurting anything else.