My thought was similar to Robert's....something sticky

I love that JB Weld epoxy putty. Sticky stuff.

Spray some brake cleaner down there, get any oil or dirt off the insert.

Get a straw, roll some JB Weld putty in a small cylinder and stuff it in the straw, leave a round ball at the end...(the goal is when the putty dries, it does not pull out of the straw)

Working quick,  within 3 minutes of activating the putty, put the straw in and smush it good on the insert. Try and get the end of the insert, not the middle, so you can get it out the sparkplug hole....then don't touch it for 24 hours....let the putty dry.

Once dry....you should be able to pull it up.

Change your oil. It was contaminated from the brake cleaner spray.

Be aware that JB Weld putty is some strong shit....if you stick it to your piston crown, you will probably be able to pull that piston out through the sparkplug hole...   

MoparMan,
 I vote for the vacuum cleaner, with a flexible thinwall tube at the business end.  The tube should be the largest that fits into the spark plug hole.  If you can borrow a Rainbow vacuum, I know of no better machine for suction power + airflow. You will need both.

I might be getting crazy here but since stuff weighs less under water I wonder if sucking it out with a vacuum doesn't work what if you get the cylinder to TDC and fill it with water and then try to suck it out along with the water, it might have a better chance of coming out with the movement of the water and being slightly lighter when in water.

If that doesn't fail turn the FJ upside down and shake the engine until it comes out the spark plug hole.

Steve, do you have Mike's FJR?

Can you rotate it so the piston is top dead and the valves are closed and try and suck it out with a powerful vacuum cleaner.

You could try taping a larger mcdonalds size plastic straw to the hose of your shop vac and insert it through the sparkplug hole.
 I don't know whether those are still legal and available in California .

Did you sell it yet?

It's actually about twice as tall as a main jet. So I don't think there's a snowballs chance it comes out of the either intake or exhaust valve.

Make sure you have all the pieces when you put it back together as well.

Some will remember my 90 from the WCR -- and briefly my 86 too.  Well -- things happened and both fell into disarray for lack of a better word.  The 90 was laid down and the 86 -- well I dropped the brass insert into #2. ( see running problem post).  The good news is the new owner " Gratis " was able to perform what I was thinking of doing which was make one bike whole -- Move the body work on the 86 over to the 90 - It wasn't a clean swap as the mounting was different but he got it done and now he has a clean running machine that IMO has the best looking body of all the FJ's.  Once the tank is painted he'll be done.  Well done Dan.

Quote from: 86FJNJ on January 21, 2026, 11:12:59 AMnew territory for me but can you remove the exhaust, manually turn the engine until that exhaust valve is fully open and then blow compressed air into the spark plug hole and hopefully the piece shoots out the exhaust port? Maybe also put a shop vac on the exhaust port to add some suction while pushing in compressed air into the spark plug hole?

Exactly. Intake or exhaust port are bigger so easier to blow it out.