the shops keep telling me theres no way for me to do it without jacking my engine up out of the car and they want to charge 400 dollars... sorry if im a cheapskate but for a 30 dollar gasket thats 370 dollars labor and 370 dollars more i could have in my pocket for other parts =] anyone able to help me out here

 

well i dont know how much you know so here's how i did mine. Disconected the exhaust. Undid the motor mounts, took the hood off, took the distributor out, hooked up the cherry picker lifted it up 4-6 inches the tranmission hit help it there got under drained the oil, took the bolts out slid the pan out cleaned it all up cleaned the surface of the block up. put silicone on the gasket all the way around a thin coat stuck it to the pan let put another thin coat all the way around on the top side slide the pan back under and bolted it up slowly lowered it back down put motor mount bolts back in tightened em up put the drian plug back in.(almost forgot it and wasted my new oil xD) i went ahead and changed the oil filter while i was at it filled it with oil put distributor back in put the hood on and started it up and there you go it can easily take up to 4 hours so don't rush yourself i had a friend help me so take your time and don't rush cause god knows you wont want to do this again lol. Oh and i forgot you need to jack the car up yah know to slide under it but when you go to lift the motor up with the cherry picker be smart and don't be under the car and be sure to use jack-stands. Im only 18 and ive watched 2 jacks fail one was brand new its not worth dieing over so be safe. A better alternative if your skinny is car ramps so take your time.

 

and hell for 400 dollars you could fly me out there to do it for free xD and you could watch me do it and know what to do and buy me food lol that shop is obviously on some good crack lol

 

Dont even need a cherry picker. Piece of wood between the jack and the oil pan to distribute the weight evenly, lift it up until the transmission hits. Then jam some appropriately sized pieces of wood (2x3 in my case) into the motor mounts (between the on-engine clamshells and the on-frame mounts), release the jack. Wood should hold it. Wont need to remove the hood either, just open it. Do need to remove y-pipe though, maybe the starter and oil filter. You can probably get away with only removing the cap of the distributor, not the whole thing (check as you're raising it). You probably wont be able to get the pan off completely, it'll be caught up on the sump, but you'll have enough space to get the gasket changed.

Get the rubber one piece gasket! I cant believe it took me years to discover how amazing they are. Install it dry, no sealer around the entire thing, just in the four corners. Much easier than degreasing all the way around and hoping your sealer will stick while oil keeps dripping off the engine and getting the edges oily again. Also wont split like the cork if you accidently overtighten the bolts (use a torque wrench with the appropriate range. I split one cork just guessing, then another trying to use a 3/8 one which doesnt work too accurately at such a low setting).

Worst part is getting the old gasket off if its cork and too much sealer was used.

 

yeah it looks like the guy before me didnt even use a gasket theres alot of sealant and i know with my valve covers when i changed that gasket it took me forever to sand the gunk off of there so what i was thinking if i do have to pull the engine out with a cherry picker i was gonna paint the engine bay when i did it and figure out where all my vacuum leaks are cause =/ half my hoses and metal lines go nowhere but if i can do it with wood blocks thats good and yes im skinny =D i used ramps before but they bent so i dont really trust them good thing is i wasnt using a roller and well some of the ramp held but waiting for sombody to jack a car off you is a scary thing or jacks and i have 4 2 ton jackstands that i place on random bits of metal that look sturdy

 

i hate to say it but plastic ramps from AZ are the best ive had, they like to tilt when the rubber bumper falls outof the bottom tho lol ive had metal ones collapse when i was underneath, good thing im skinny or id be dead lol although i can say that an oil pan to the face isnt the best feeling in the world lol

If your gonna paint the engine bay id do it yourself like you said it just takes a weekend and a couple friends lol

 

cause im looking to go two tone with yellow and blue =P it just popped into my head when i saw i think it was a white and red camaro at the track but it wrecked saturday D= so i was thinking paint the engine bay blue cause i dont want it to be like minisun when i pop my hood and i was gonna hit whatever engine i rebuild for it with blue and yellow paint O.o