[s-cars] That's a keepah!

[Philip Mische]

I had what I thought was a noisy lifter.  When I pulled the cams I was surprised to find the lifter for the last intake valve for #5 standing proud of the others by ~ 1/8".  When I pulled that lifter off I was shocked to find the retainer nearly pulled off the stem and held by only a single keeper - yikes!  Apparently the lifter would contact the retainer first, then travel for quite a ways before contacting the top of the valve stem & kinda opening the valve.  More surprising was that it got itself reassembled every time.  There's no sign at all of the missing keeper, and the remaining one is cracked.  Man, how long was I going to keep getting away with that!  Mmmmmm, I wonder if that's why the valvetrain sounded like a bucket of bolts...  

Question #1 - Has anyone seen this happen before?
Question #2 - Does anyone close to western CT have the magic in-place valve compressor tool (VW 2036 & accessories) and spark plug air fitting hose to lend-out/rent?

TIA,

Phil
95.5 S6