Need advice.
 

Today I was finally able to work on the 98. Decided it was a good day to tackle the CCTs and change them over to manuals. Was working on the rear and was in process of putting the chain guard back on when I dropped the bolt to the right side. It looked like it went straight down.

First thought was "oh shite", second was to get pissed off.

I walked away. After calming down I came back out and pulled the right side engine cover and water pump cover. No bolt.

Second thought was pull the oil pan. Still no bolt. I don't see anywhere else it could of went.

I've been left, right, up, down and all around and still no bolt. So I am left here scratching my head.

Any clue where the bolt could of went?

Mighty-Worm-Magnetic-Pickup-Too

Kinda double posting from the facebook group but... I think it's a good starting place. Time to go fishing!

http://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/1333...0&odnBg=FFFFFF

Got it. Took a combination of mechanical claw and magnet to get it. 6 hours lost labor. And that kids is why you wipe the oil off the hands. Damn it.

That's a bummer Meier. I had a similar "oh sh1t" moment as I was replacing the dowels on the crankcase prior to putting the clutch cover back on. Just as I was thinking "gee this would be a bad time to drop this dowel, what with the oil innards fully exposed and all" it slipped from my oily grip, and disappeared with a "gloop" sound into the sump. Two minutes of magnet fishing was rewarded with a happier "clack" sound as the magnet and the dowel found each other.