Back when I worked as a mechanic at dealerships you would find the occasional piece of stuff. I once found a factory newpaper that someone had placed between the wheel and the brake drum. I think my best find was a 1/4" ratchet, 6" extension, and 10mm socket under the drivers seat of a new Caddy. They were all in the industrial black finish and they all had the positive pin lock style locks instead of the spring ball type

I also found a flashlight wedged into a rear coil spring once

Thats really cool about the coffee cup. I like the idea of putting a note in it and putting it back in place

Bobby

 

A friend was a supervisor at the chevrolet engine assembly plant in Buffalo. He told me they started having problems with the engines during final inspection. They would put each engine on a test stand and start it up to see that it met specs. every so often one would blow a head off when it started, and they couldn't figure out why. They finally narrowed it down to a particular shift and had security people watch the assembly process from the roof since it was all glass clearstory windows. Wasn't too long before they discovered the "problem". Seems a bored or disgruntled worker who put the heads on would occasionally drop a shop towel into a cylinder before installing the head. He was surprised when the FBI arrested him for sabatoge since it was during the Vietnam war and GM supplied engines to the military.