No. Short of removing the head, the vacuum trick might work.

This morning I went by a local auto repair shop and I borrowed a hand held camera with an auger-like cable and light on the end. The cable was rigid, yet flexible and slightly smaller than the spark plug opening. I snaked that thing all around the inside of piston #1 raising and lowering the piston. No matter where I looked in that cylinder, I could not find that 3/4" piece of wood from the broken paint brush. I also had flexible mechanical fingers ready to reach in the spark plug opening to grab the piece once I located it.

That piece of wood is not sitting on my #1 piston. Could it possibly have broken off under the piston? Is it possible the piston came up higher than the tip of the spark plug as I was rotating the damper?

A very good mechanic whom I have known and trusted for many years told me to put the spark plugs back in, do the valve lash, and start the motor. I really don't want to ruin my valves. Your thoughts please. I am trying to avoid removing the cylinder head.

Umm, did you happen to aim the camera at the valves to see if a valve has already trapped the piece of wood between the valve and the head?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

No I did not. The engine has not been cranked during the piston stop/degree wheel steps. Could the broken piece be lodged in the valve? If so how? Does the piston come that far up?

Well, if the motor was ever turned a full rotation the valve pay have opened enough to permit the wood to become trapped. If you haven't ever changed the engine from the compression stroke on #1, then you are fine.

Are you sure the wood wasn't missing before the paintbrush went in?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Damper was only turned enough clockwise and then counterclockwise against the piston stop and then between the two stops at TDC.
Positive. I heard it crack while my neighbor was holding it (me turning the damper) and saw him yank it out as if it had bitten him.

Do I continue or take the cylinder head off?

Randy, Randy, Randy.....

Possible scenarios:

The neighbor, when jerking his hand back quickly, actually slung the broken piece out into the grass and out of view.

The small piece got lodged under the valve, as suggested.

The head's combustion chamber is very oily and the piece of wood is stuck up there to it out of view of the camera (not likely).

First, try blowing compressed air into the cylinder to rattle the little piece of wood loose, in case it is still in there and stuck to something slimey.
If that doesn't free it up so you can find it, rotate the engine all the way through a couple of compression / exhaust cycles, blowing compressed air the whole time. Maybe that will knock it loose. Check with the camera, again.

Let us know,
Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Your mechanic friend knows that an internal combustion engine will "chew-up and spit-out" a small piece of wood like it is nothing.

If it were me, I would remove all the plugs, spin the engine over with the starter a few times... hoping that the compression will eject the piece(s) out the spark plug hole, then re-install the plugs and fire it up.
DD

Throw some termites in there let em have at it for a week. Have em check for tdc while they're there.
If you do find the piece in there use some double sided tape on the end of a rod and kind of "dab" it around. Hope that helps.

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<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2992308402_5481afb26e_t.jpg">

I put the spark plugs back in yesterday. Then I did a cold valve lash(.020 exhaust/.010 intake). I have manually turned those pistons several times since the piece went missing. My son comes in from college this weekend. We're going to try cranking it. I don't have a tachometer or anything to measure vacuum. I may be posting help questions when I try cranking it. I have a new timing light, however I have never used one before.

Thanks to all who have responded to my posts. It really has helped and I am grateful for your assistance.

Randy

P.S. The termite approach was humorous.