Yea, yea,, I know the feelin, alrite.. I know Ive sure called myself a few choice names. Ive insulted my OWN mother,, if ya know what I mean,,
At least there was a solution that didnt require taking things apart. I HATE taking things Back apart,,, Thats one of the reasons Im so very very slow putting things together.
And, I take things apart meticulously, putting fasteners with parts, organized, like on heads & case sides, I draw the outline of the part & slice the cardboard & stick bolts in EXACatackaleey where they go.

YOu shoulda seen me puttin the top end together on that Raptor.
I test fit the wrist pin in the piston, put one retainer in, on the bench, so I wouldnt risk fumbling it in the motor OR suffer the difficulty of installing it from the side that had the least ease of access. Test fit it in the rod & made sure that when I started trying to put that piston on it was gonna work out w/o any need for any kinda slappin or bangin,.
Ohh, Im deadly slow, BUT,, I havent heard back that it didnt survive,,

The last time I took off the head cover, I used Permatex® Ultra Grey® Rigid High-Torque RTV Silicone Gasket Maker.  I got a small oil leak after about 600 miles, in the vicinity of the head cover bolt that is under discussion here.  Although said bolt had been installed (after torquing the other ones - read on), I think that the ensuing oil leak was my fault due to a faulty torque protocol.  When I had initially torqued the head cover bolts down so the sealant could cure at the correct thickness (keep in mind that the Ultra Grey sets up pretty rigid), I did not torque, or, even install, the subject head cover bolt, as the associated decorative cover was not yet in place.  Had that cover in place, some of the other head cover bolts would be hard to access, thus messing with my torque pattern.

So, off the head cover came again.  This time, I gave some thought to the torque protocol:

Here is what I used to take the place of the decorative head cover during the next torque session - a stack of washers:





I just placed a bunch of washers on the bolt.  This allowed me to torque the bolt down properly while still maintaining a proper torque pattern.

After the gasket sealant used on the head cover was cured, I removed the washers and installed the left decorative chrome head cover.

No leaks yet....and that was 2400 miles ago.

So, yeah, I think it is important to keep some sort of bolt there....

IHTH someone!