Aha I found the little bugger. It didn't fall down the hole at all which shocked me.
I stopped by the Toyota dealer the other day to ask one of the guys who works as a mechanic (they love me there), if he had a spare keeper laying around in his parts drawers. He looked for a few minutes but couldn't find em due to lack of organization. I was about to call the dealer for a new one but I just wouldn't be able to sleep at all if I never found it. I got a couple pics I'll post later. I must have watched it actually bounce down there and not actually fall down the hole. Finding that stupid thing made my week! :147:
In the meantime I scrubbed down the engine from top to bottom. What used to be a nasty hunk of alloy is all new and shiny looking. Both the Lexus and Toyota dealerships can't wait to see my truck when I'm done fitting the engine. They are amazed when I show them the pictures on my Treo 650 phone =] I'm dying to get this thing done as well. Ok I'm going to get back to work on it tonight.