I own a 03 F150 4.6l XLT RWD single cab. I went to flush out the cooling system out. When I took out the thermostat I noticed some pieces of something down around the inside of the housing area. There is gap where these pieces had broken off at. I was curious if someone may know the seriousness of those pieces missing and maybe the extent of diy repairing? Here's a pic of it hopefully it'll attach to this posting. Thank you

Removed the thermostat and noticed broken pieces down in there. Any insight on what this could be doing damage wise and possibly the extent of diy repairing

 

Intake gasket.

 

X2