Long story short, was having my head rebuilt with new cams springs retainers etc. And garage/machine shop forgot to re install the LMAs.

The car hasn’t been driven far. Literally, a few meters near the garage. Stopped and started a few times to listen to the ticking but never revved past 3/4k.

Now question is, would the car running without the lmas caused any damage? Rocker arm lobes would have been bouncing off of the retainers. So assuming there may be some damage to the retainers or rocker arms? If there is some damage/scoring, will it affect anything?

Picture below was taken by the garage when fitting head back on. Literally noticed the LMAs missing today.

 

bump

 

Maybe... take a close look at your parts and decide. How can anyone tell you the outcome (and potential damage) merely from your explanation and a single photo ??? If there is damage, the machine shop that screwed up should have your back.

 

I would imagine that any damage would be pretty visible, as you already pointed out. You likely dodged a bullet.