Ha Ha Ha. I hear you. It was just something else to try and see what happens. I do bellieve that to be a valve spring (one of the inner smaller ones) But I don't know if that would cause the ticking you guys discribed. I don't think it would as the outer diameter spring keep the valve from being week enough to cause the noise at idle, but you know stanger things have happened and especially to Matt.

 

looks like beehive spring shrapnel. may be from previous springs used. was prolly hiding out, roaming around somewhere. til the magnet caught it one day.

 

Thats what I told Matt, I have not heard the knocking sound but he said sometimes it's loud and sometimes it's very faint. That piece is only 1/3 of the spring so it still has pressure on it. The inner spring is not in there flopping around... LOL

And thats what I'm wondering too. The block was sitting on a stand for several months and the heads has been pulled several times over the last few months so there is no telling where it came from.

I told Matt when he has a few hours to bring the car over we will pull the springs just to see if it was from his.