I used the 'run it without a spark plug' method a few times. It actually works pretty good.....

 

Then you run the chance of it getting between the piston and cylinder wall. I like the small tube and vac idea, You also can use a piece of solid wire with clay or bubble gum on the end. Then work your way around till you get it all.

 

That or grease on a wire would work like an earlier post said. The grease will burn off when the engine runs.

 

Here again you can jump to 50:00 and Eric O just fires it up blow porcelain out. In some other part of the vid he mentions no shop would reasonably consider pulling the head for some broken porcelain-- it's simply not time or cost effective.

That said, pulling heads on 3V Tritons is a bit more labor intensive than Magnums-- if for no other reason than the design of the engine bay (but also differences in timing covers and OHC vs pushrod)

 

Personally, my experiences have been the opposite. Ive never seen a shop that would risk a clients engine by just running it.

Ive definitely seen guys do it for their own or a brother in law kinda deal but not a client.

Having seen the results of more than one engine that injested solid foreign materials, i wouldn't do it unless it was an extreme scenario.

I seem to remember a guy that would flood th3 cylinders to push things out but he was special. Lol