“I have had two separate incidents where a connecting rod bearing cap fell off into the oil pan. One Ford and one Chevy.”
Whole different story! Were these original installations or overhauled prior to failure?
Back in the day a guy was in the next stall at the Navy auto shop and was telling us he had lost power and wanted some advice. We did a compression test on his 6-cyl. One at zero.
Pulling the head confirmed missing piston. Dropping the pan confirmed fate of piston.
Factory built engines...........
My FIAT X1/9 had the pistons installed backwards................