A quick question regarding oil pan R/R

Umm,
There's a sheet metal plate on casting stand-offs about 7" above the cover. The plate is a very tight, or maybe actually slightly larger then the inside of the sump. Anyway, it likes to hang up on small casting irregularities.

So you have to tilt the sump cover sideways until the plate is at enough of an angle that it clears the inside of the sump as it comes out. It's mostly a 'feel thing.

There's a couple of good descriptions of sump removal in the old fchat archives.

Oh, yes, Then engine has an enormous amount of oil trapped in little nooks & crannies. So have a large shallow pan (cookie pan with lip edges) or a large piece of scrap carpet or something to catch drips while the sump is off. It'll drip about 1/4 cup/day for a couple of days, then a tablespoon or so/day for a couple of months!!!

Of course, wear eye protection, nothing like old motor oil in the eye to blur things for awhile.

 

I would pull the trans pan and replace the shift seals also, you're half way there (the eng sump is the tougher of the two).

 

If you actually get the oil pan off I would trim the windage trays(sheet metal) to facilitate installation and future removal. When I had my motor apart it didn't look like the pan would come off otherwise, or at least not without a lot of contortions. Good luck,
Tom