Let's say I was checking my valve clearances last night and the valve tool slipped a couple times, putting a little bit of a gouge in the inside of the case near the cam channels. I'm not worried about the damage to the case, it's small (a few little gouges that are maybe a couple mm long by a half mm deep at the worst part). However, that metal that got scraped out had to go somewhere, and now I have a few little pinhead-sized metal shavings in the well around my valve bucket. I got out what I could.
My question: Is this enough to damage the cam lobe or any other part of my engine? The metal is soft, the shavings are tiny, and there are very few of them. I feel like when I put the engine back together, get fresh oil in it, and get it running again, they'll get flushed down to the filter. I'm going to go back through the area again with a pipe cleaner or something to get out what I can, but I know I won't get it all.
