Lost screw in GTS hood

[CreteViperMan]

Upon replacing the black grills in my clamshell hood, one of those little suckers slipped off of the screwdriver and is now inside of the hood resting somewhere near the air intake. Has anyone successfully removed a lost screw from inside the hood? If so, how? I've tried strong magnets, extend-a-reach grappers, coat hangers, and a myriad of homemade contraptions without any luck. I've seen these nifty-neat-O cameras they have for looking inside of engines and was wondering if anyone in the Chicagoland area has one of these cameras and would assist me in finding and removing this screw. I'm afraid it will get lodged in there and eventually cause cracking in the resin and paint. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I'm sick over this and desperately need a cure.

Thank you,

Alan

 

[Qualitywires.com]

unless it's really wedged in there in the hood, a very strong magnet should do the trick...when I mean strong magnet..the kind that you just can't pull off of metal unless you use pliers or something that is going to give you a good grip. Have you tried a coat hanger to losen the lodge in screw? Take a small rubber mallet and tap underneath the hood also...obviously don't whack it hard, just enough to rattle the screw lose. You may need to take your hood off also which is simple to do and stand it up then tapped it with the rubber mallet.

 

[GTS Bruce]

I feel your frustation.Of course you will have to tear the hood apart to get it out or Murphy's law will guarante that it pops out while you're backing out of the garage with it ending up stuck in a tire. Good Luck. GTS Bruce

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Mine is a gentle reminder of how I should be a little more careful when working with those grills. If it is in the cards that the screw comes out....I won't complain.

 

[Steve-Indy]

When this happened to a Buddy, we removed NACA duct, and went after it from 2 direcrions...we also esed a strong magnet held JUST ABOVE hood surface to move the screw around to where we could grab it. I PERSONALLY would discourage use of those small flex-type grabbers as the end can dislodge and stay in the hood as well.

Here's the link to that episode:

http://vca2.viperclub.org/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=105946&Forum=All_Forums&Words=screw&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=105945&Search=true#Post105946

 

[Mazman]

I also dropped one inside the trunk last week while installing the trunk struts. Got it out by tieing a fishing line to a magnetic dart (cut off the back end) and fishing it out of the groove - was very easy as the the magnetic tip on these darts are pretty powerful. Might work for you also. Check out this link - $5.95 for 6
http://www.toyscamp.com/viewProduct.asp?ProductID=UI10002

 

[tarfungo]

This won’t help now, but I fashioned guides of sorts to facilitate removing and installing the screws for the grill cause I had the same lost screw issue as your post.

I bought about 18” of 1/2” (I think?) clear air tubing like that which you can find at a fish hobby store for aquariums. The inside diameter was just larger than the screw heads while the outside diameter just fit the access holes cut into the hood.

I cut short pieces about three inches long cutting the ends to match the inside angles of the hood for each screw position. I then used this to guide to hold the proper angle and screwed the screws to the appropriate clips just setting enough screw so the screws wouldn’t fall out. Once all four screws were set I could then set the grill exactly where I wanted and tightened the screws. Still a pain in the ****, but saved me from losing screws!

 

[Y2K5SRT]

While I can't help with the recovery, I can tell you how I prevented it from happening when I cleaned the grill area: Having never had any success with the clay bar in its intended form, I just took small pieces of it and put it on the front of the screwdriver. It "stuck" the screw to the driver with no problems.

I would think that if you used a very strong magnet on the top of the hood with a thin cotton cloth in between, you could pull it out that way. Let us know how your recovery goes!

 

[Jeff Torrey]

Here is how I got mine out. BUy one of those antenna extend tools with a magnetic tip from aoto-zone. Break the last 2 inches off. Get a metal coat hanger and unwind it to maximize the length. Tape the magnet to the coat hanger with electrical tape and guide in towards the screw. Gently pound on the hood to shake the screw, slide the magnet back out and hopefully you get it. It took a few tries, look from the underside of the hood for the closest entry. I have no liner on my hood and am not that familiar with the Gen II hood.

Next time you try to install the screw put some electrical tape on the head to hold the screw in the socket, until you can catch a thread.

Good Luck

 

[Bo knows]

This is how I handle this problem. 5 years ago I dropped one down the hood of my RT 10. Two years ago I dropped one down the hood of my GTS. Both screws are still there and I have had no problems. Dilemma solved, and I sleep well at night!

Bo

 

[Bernard]

A few days after buying my new RT I dropped a screw between the liner of my removable hard top and the hard top. I obssesed about it for a day and then decided to get on with enjoying the car.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Alan, any update?

 

[steel snake]

Happened to me the first week I had my RT10. Any thin wire that is bendable (I used baleing wire) with a small magnet attached to the end will get it out. I used a powerful mag to locate the screw (you can hear it rattle) and pushed the wire/mag down to it. Came right out! Tried string first but you have to be able to push the mag past meallic obstacles.

 

[CreteViperMan]

No updates yet. Too darn cold here to be working on the car now. I have new ideas now and will pursue this issue when it warms up.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Next time I'll be much more careful.

Alan