Terrible day Options

[Special_Edy]

So it all started with a flat tire yesterday, which was no big deal since I was in a GREAT mood because I figured out my dead cylinder was being caused by a valve shim(holding a valve open) and not a burnt valve, So I replaced the tire began the process of measuring the valve shims.
Upon removing the valve cover I found a mirror-on-an-extendable-stick tool sitting inside my engine, which means Im a retard and left it there last time I had the engine open. The mirror was missing(probably in a million peices inside my bearings) so I changed the oil and filter immediately(thank god the oil looked perfect, maybe it is all in the filter)
Lol so then last night I dropped a feeler gauge into the engine, and it slid right down into the oil pan and is unretreivable with a magnet so I guess I will be pulling the oil pan.
Oh and toyota said it will take one to one and a half weeks for the shims to come in and they do not carry the valve tool so guess I will be removing/installing cams twice, once to measure the shims to order new ones and again to install new shims.
Oh and why is the FPIG $40 bucks? that seems outrageous

[Special_Edy]

BTW it is a 94 GT hatchback with a 5S-FE and the 5 speed with less than 118,000(but the PO drove it with a blown headgasket till it stopped running )
Okay,
So what happened is I had a dead cylinder with no compression(leak down test showed exhaust valve), and I assumed it had a burnt valve. So I was thinking that I was gonna have to rebuild the engine and spend at least $800 - $900 dollars, and I removed the valve cover just to look for some obvious signs of a burnt valve or a crack maybe(exploratory surgery ). I noticed one of the dead cylinder's exhaust lifters was hard to turn but all the other lifters turn easy in their bore. So I went and bought some feeler gauges and realized the shim was holding the valve open. I did a compression test with the Exhaust Camshaft removed(It the easy one to pull), and compression was restored! So I tried my hardest to find a Lifter Tool but even the 3 dealerships I called didnt know of one. Thats what made me decide to remove the intake camshaft to measure and transplant shims.
So I am in the process of installing the Intake Camshaft back in, I just gotta put down the RTV(on the main-cap on the timing belt) and torque it down. I took feeler gauge measurements and moved shims as best I could(alot are out of adjustment) to make them all correct. I will have to wait a week for a single exhaust shim from the dealership and I still have to remove the oilpan to retreive the lost feeler gauge.

Lessons learned----
1. Dont let children any where near your garage while you're rebuilding an an engine(they throw the nuts and bolts in the bushes and mix up all the lifters)
2. Dont be a dumbass and leave a tool in the engine, there is no excuse
3. Buy the Valve type feeler gauges for valves(dont use the regular straight ones), and dont use small tools in the vicinity of an open engine.

Anyways, I will update this as the reassembly and tool-retrieval-mission progresses