Replacing oil pan gasket with engine installed

[haulna]

Need to replace my oil pan gasket on my 1/2 ton, 2-wheel drive 72 chevy pickup. I hoping to do it with out completely removing the small block engine. I understand you can unbolt the motor mounts and jack up the engine a few inches to remove and replace the pan.

Any experience you can share or suggestions will be appreciated.?

[60ratrod]

while i've heard of people doing it that way i'd rather haul out a motor to do the pan or rear seal cause i don't like fighting with the front cross member when dealing with the other stuff. but yes it can be done, just be prepaired to fight with it and use a lot of explitives.

[07SSSC]

I removed my pan last summer investigating a noise. What I did was remove the motor mount bolts and jack the entire engine/trans assembly up as far as I could/felt comfortable going. Then got some blocks of wood and stuck them in between the mounts and the block. You will still need to do some wiggling and working to get the pan out but it can be done.

[cableguy0]

Its faster to pull the engine out. All the fighting and wiggling and never being sure that you have the gasket in place isnt worth the effort.

[idastang]

Yes you can do it. When you put it back I would use the felpro one piece gasket set. Its much easier and you will get new bolts with the kit. It will run about $25.00 from checkers auto. Good luck

[bamabaxter]

Pull it out.

[Jim_PA]

If the engine is in the front mount position, you will have a real ***** of a time getting the oil pan off without knocking your oil pump pickup around.

[hotrod_991]

It can be some. Have done is several times. haha i did this twice in one week last time I was home on leave. What happens when you tear up dads truck, you have to fix it. As said above jack up the motor a hair first to take the wieght off the motor mounts then pull the bolts out looses the tanny mount then you will be ale to lift the motor quite a ways actually. then block it or use stands and state taking out bolts. you will need a swivle and a long ext. to get the front ones and some patience. go slow and steady when putting it back in to you dont mess up the new gasket, I Siliconed the gasket to the pan prior to instal so it was already tacky and didnt move around much. then just reverse the order on everything to install it and set the motor back down. Good luck man.

[AusTruck]

What if your engine is a 350, with turbo 350 trans, mounted in the rear position? In other words, the 6 cylinder engine stand locations? Looks to me like the pan my come off without removing the engine mounts or jacking up the engine.

I've been thinking of dropping the pan (along with the manifold, dizzy, and timing chain cover) on my 69 with the above situation to check out the cam that the PO put in the crate motor. Supposed to be some hot rod type cam, but I want to know what it is. I know that removing the cam is a lot of trouble just to know, but I've done it before on a 65 Malibu and lived to not regret the experience.

[hotrod_991]

i dont know anything about rear position all mine have been normal 350's. Good luck with the cam inspection. If i was already at Ft. hood would be willing to give ya a hand.

[haulna]

Here's a couple more questions on jacking the motor up:

When you remove the bolts from the motor mounts, are these the (3) bolts on each side that directly bolt the engine block to the motor mount?

Do you loosen the transmission bolts where it is mounted to the crossmember? (I have a th400)

Can you use a floor jack to jack up the motor by jackng against the harmonic balancer with wood blocking?

It looks like I will need to remove the fan shroud. Is there any other items that should be removed? How about the starter and/or distributor?

You guys are passing great information. I'm absorbing it all and I will have informed knowledge before I dive in. Thanks!

[hotrod_991]

when i do it i only take out the one bolt that runs throught the rubber mount. yea just take the nut off the bottom of the tanny mount bolt so it can move up through the mounting hole as you raise the motor up.
I have never lifted using the balancer. To me that sounds risky since if you tweak it you can tear up your bottom end. I use the flat side of a 2x4 on the jack then lift useing hte tranny pan. the board will distribute the wieght across the pan so not to dent it in. I never removed my fan shroud or dist. if you wanted you could and take the cap off just for somemore clearence. you realls shouldnt have to go that far up.

as i said all mine have been normal mounting locations so might be lil diffrent. pictures of the mounting location would help

[hotrod_991]

not sure how well you can see it in this first picture. my photo skills are not all that great. but if you look at the motor mount at the top of the pic. you can see were i backed out the bolt in the mount to allow some play. I didn thave to take my all the way out just far enough to allow it to move up about an inch.

Also mack sure to take oyur time when doing the removal. I rushed through it the first time and man handled my pan out bending it the hell so my truck stayed as it is in the second picture for almost a week while i hunted down another pan.

[68Lowrider]

haulna its very easy to change the pan gasket in the truck I did my BB 68 last year in about 4 hours complete , I used a on piece gasket also I did disconnect the headers, trans and shift arm, left the drive shaft connected lower and upper radiator hoses were removed no way you could pull it and fix it that fast . starter can stay and i did not pull the dist . just sayn

[haulna]

I'm finding that removing the motor mount bolts is going to be difficult with the headers in place. It looks like the headers will need to be disconnected and or removed for the first step of either option. (Lifting engine or removing engine)

I'm starting to think that operations like replacing the pan gasket can easily turn into a frame off resto pretty fast. Once you start removing parts its easy to think you should keep going to update the next part in line. Pulling the engine would definitely put me in that line of thought.

Thanks again for all you input. I need all the coaching I can get when it comes to truck repair.

[hotrod_991]

hey man no problem we all need help with one thing or another. i learned what I know from alot of trial and error and my dad owning a shop but still making me do everything the hard way at least once before giving me the tools that makes it easier.

As for the motor mount bolts it must be because your in the rear mount position cause i also have headers but was able to reach my bolts to back them out. it was a PITA to do but with the right swivle and alot of breathing exercises i was able to do it.

[haulna]

I've decided to pull the motor to make the change of the oil pan gasket. I've disconnected all the hoses, wiring, removed fan and rad, and removed the bolts between the block and turbo 400 tranny.

When I hoist out the block, is here any hints that you can share in concern with the block to tranny connection?

[Captainfab]

Have you unbolted the torque converter from the flexplate? You will need to support the transmission once you break the connection between it and the engine.

Originally Posted by haulna

I've decided to pull the motor to make the change of the oil pan gasket. I've disconnected all the hoses, wiring, removed fan and rad, and removed the bolts between the block and turbo 400 tranny.

When I hoist out the block, is here any hints that you can share in concern with the block to tranny connection?

[60ratrod]

or you could just pull the tranny with the motor. a lot of people find it to be easier that way

[1986c10]

hmm, i did mine last week with the engine in and it wasnt all that hard with the felpro 1 piece gasket.

[cableguy0]

Its a lot of fighting and bad positions for no reason. it doesnt take that long to pull the engine. 11 bolts,exhaust and the accessories and the engine is ready to come out.besides the engine probably needs a good cleaning and some paint anyhow.

[cdowns]

would also make it alot easier to takeoff the front clip and remove the front crossmember and suspension too

[60ratrod]

yeah i gotta agree with cdowns on that. especially since some engine hoists won't lift high enough to clear trucks like mine won't. at the very least pull the grill and core support