Before I send the Fel-Pro oil pan gasket back to AutoZone, I would like to know if there is an easy and fast way to drop the oil pan. I seem to keep losing oil somewhere but I do not have many resources or a lot of time in a week to spare to tear apart my front suspension and exhaust just to fix a small leak which makes me add a quart here and there. I recently did a full oil change and hoped I could change the oil pan gasket, but it doesn't look, in my opinion, possible with my time and tools. I plan, within the next few months, to swap out the LG4 305 with a tuned up 350 or 383, haha, which will fix the leak in itself, but it is rather a nuisance to constantly check my oil and keep an eye on my pressure gauge. (Obviously I should do those anyways, I'm talking about doing them very very frequently.)

 

1) Get the car up in the air (jack stands, ramps, or lift)
2) If your exhaust crosses under the pan, drop the exhaust
3) Support engine and remove front engine mount bolts (the long one, one per side)
4) Lift engine up ~4-6 inches (might want to remove the distributor cap before you do this), put wood block between the engine side mounts and chassis side mounts to support the engine while you do the rest of the work
5) Drain oil, remove oil filter, remove bellhousing cover (auto trans), remove oil pan mount bolts
6) You may need to turn the crank to get the front counterweight out of the way, then remove pan
7) Reassemble

It took me about 4 hours last time I did it, to replace the oil pump pick-up.

 

Did you have to take flywheel off back of crank to slip oil pan? In process of changing oil pan

 

No, you don't need to remove the flywheel.

I've personally never been able to get the oil pan out with a manual without pulling the transmission off or dropping the crossmember.

 

lifitng the engine up that much, you should also unbolt the tranny mount (remove the 1 nut)