Has anyone got a Perkins 4.107?

[Dick Flower]

I finally tailored my keel for the French canals. The loss of the weight of the 25 cm I cut off the keel raised the boat 15 cm, reducing my draft by 40 cm, although she did roll a lot more when motoring 10 miles by sea

While motoring gently along the canal a couple of days ago there was a loud rattle from engine, which I stopped immediately.

I found the mushroom shaped cover on the air intake had fallen off. The screw holding it on via a hole in its center had come out. When I tried to replace the screw there was just a small hole in the end of the filter tube for it to go through, but nothing behind to screw it in to.

I removed the inlet manifold and fished around inside with no luck, and eventually removed the cylinder head.

I found tiny scraps of brass, probably the remains of a nut, on top of no.2 piston, but no.3 piston has a piece of steel, about 1/16" across and an inch long, buried in the piston top.

This steel piece is solidly buried in the piston, and resists picking out with a sharp tool. I don't know whether it is the remains of a clip or a pin which somehow held a fixing nut, or if I am looking at the edge of a wider piece of steel buried deep in the piston.

The boat is tied up on the canal bank about an hour away from home, and removing the engine to replace the piston is not really an option I am keen on.

If I can identify what the piece is, I can decide whether to dig it out, or grind it down to the level of the piston top and leave it in there.

Below is a picture of the engine from above, showing the mushroom shaped air inlet cover just behind my foot. There is a small screw in the center of it to hold it in place.

Does anyone have a similar engine, a 1971 Perkins 4.107, who can please tell me what is inside the outer end of the air filter tube for the screw to screw into?