You'll love this one.

I just did the most stupid thing!

I just got my Cylinder Head re-done on my 89 300 CE 3.0 and I'm just ready to begin putting things back together. . Well...through some amazing display of physics or the paranormal or perhaps just Murphy's Law, the metal button from my flannel shirt sleeve managed to just "un-sew", come loose what-have-you at the exact time I was reaching above and opening the hood to the fully opened position.

Where did it go you ask? It took a nice "bounce off" of the radiator and then straight into the air and came right back down into the timing cover! - Remember that pit you get in your stomach when you do something bad? Well now I have it...

After further inspection, I saw the button sitting about 1/2 way down on the chain. No magnetic pick-up tool I have here has a small enough head to get down there and my "claw" type pick-up tool won't reach it as well.

I managed to magnetize a peice of bailling wire after I bent a hook on the end of it. Now I actully have the button hooked through one of the holes and "hanging" but due to the "wide bend" of the hook, I feel that I will loose the button on my way back up through the chain, and tensioner.

Since the top part of the motor is already off. The motor mounts are obviously right there. I have my engine hoist and I'm wondering if I should just remove the mounts and related items, raise the engine, remove the oil pan and drop it down.

Does anyone have any ideas or better yet a picture of the front of the 3.0 with the timing covers and accessories off? So I can see what the space looks like below the area where the button is.

I'd be glad to give it a shot pulling it straight up but if I loose it, I'm not sure I'll be able to find it. It's a pretty "beefy button" and Since I have a hold on it now, I don't want to loose it. It may be small enough to retreive with my magnetic pickup tool through the oil pan drain plug before I remove the pan but I'm not sure. (and that's if I could even get it into the pan). I don't want to risk having it drop and then not make it to the oil pan.

Any ideas??