Fuel pump Bakelite flange peice dropped

[Joe_bury]

Hi all,
Sorry for all the questions I promise this will be my last for a while so frustrating when making good progress and something goes wrong...
Anyway was removing my stuck Bakelite flange was going well tapping a for a screw however when removing the stuck peices the broken end of it popped down and couldn't get it out was about 10mm long, couldn't believe it!! Should I be worried it's dropped down and out of sight or is the material so soft it won't affect anything?
Thank you

[purplepeter]

It really needs to come out I'm afraid!
You might get lucky if You remove the sump plate & strainer then fish around with a bent coat hanger or stiff wire

[Editor]

When this happened on my '59 Beetle, my local old-VW specialist guy said not to worry, there's a fair bit of space down there, and it's unlikely to get caught up. I worried initially, but the engine did plenty more miles without a problem. I say leave it! As Peter suggests, you may find it again when you drain the oil. If it did get caught by any gears, it would probably be ground up anyway. Most likely it will move to a quiet corner and not cause any problem - drive carefully!

The previous owner of my Fastback had a valve drop and smash the piston. He replaced the piston and head with components from another engine, and for a few oil changes I found bits of piston appearing in the drainer!

[Joe_bury]

Thanks for the help. To be fair it's very brittle the one I removed so I'm hoping the are odds on my side and gets chewed up. Heard mixed comments but think I'll take the decision to leave it. I'll be changing the oil once it fired up again so will try do some fishing. Thanks for the replies