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I say "popped" and not "blown" because my 2009 base Cooper had its freeze/expansion plug come off resulting in a god awful oil/coolant sludge mix in every orifice of the engine. Mechanically inclined, but inexperienced, I dug in and now have the head off, most of the engine compartment emptied, and a good amount of the engine cleaned up.
I'm making good progress really and I think it will go back together just fine. In the meantime I have learned SO MUCH about cars and my Mini and really enjoying myself.
Anyhoo, I'm now in possession of quite a few of the specialized tools needed for this kind of work so if you are in the Los Angeles area and need some tools, say hello and we can probably work something out.
Well after looking for that online it definitely is very close visually. Except the piece I have is more than twice the listed size of that part. I don't think that is it. Especially since I didn't take the head apart until after it was off my block.
Yes, looks like the valve guide. Might have been dropped when your valves seals were done at one time, those things don't just fall off. No genuine MINI part but we do have aftermarkets.
Thanks for the response. I looked at the valve guides in the head and the diameter of the hole in the currently installed valve guides is much larger than the one on the loose part. The valves don't even fit in the hole on the loose part. So I don't think it is that. I'll keep looking.. hopefully I don't discover what it is via "recon by fire" when I get the engine running again!
