Tom Bilse

Today, while lowering the front end of my car with a hydraulic floor jack (something I've done many times) the blocks on the jack dislodged, one ending up in a diagonal position and creasing the bottom of the oil pan. Thus, the pan needs to be repaired/replaced. (Three steps forward, FOUR steps back, it seems).
Thankfully the front fenders, etc. are off the car. I put the core support on today before the incident occurred.
Looking at the '68 Olds chassis manual, the 400 c.i. engine does not need to be completely removed in order to remove the pan.
Has anyone had experience doing this?
Any helpful hints that will make this procedure go efficiently/smoothly?
Is an engine hoist mandatory?
Is there a nearby member (Plano, Frisco, McKinney - Texas) who'd be willing to assist me in this endeavor?
Thanks.

dc2x4drvr

I made the mistake of pulling my 455 pan with my engine in the car-never again...pull your motor, put it on a stand, and pull the pan. Your pan can probably be fixed by a good bodyman. PM me, I might be able to give phone support.

matt69olds

The oil pan can be removed with the engine in, you just need to rotate the crank so the counterweights aren't in the way. However, if the front end sheet metal is removed, it might be just as easy to pull the engine.

Tom Bilse

Thanks for your prompt replies and suggestions.
Obviously, the engine needs to be moved to get the pan out. After having installed re-coated headers (they'll need to be detached from the exhaust pipes at least) and a few other items, I'm hoping to remove the pan with as little engine movement as possible.
The chassis manual mentioned removing one engine mount and loosening the other so the engine can be "lifted and turned slightly" to enable clearance (for the 400 c.i. engine). Does this sound feasible?

dc2x4drvr

You'll need an engine hoist to raise the motor high enough so the pan can clear the crossmember. The distributor might have to be pulled for firewall clearance. I noticed that the manual says: remove the transmission, apparently the back of the motor has to raised, along with the front.

Warhead

That's funny.

Pull the headers, and distributor, Starter, fan and clutch, at the very least.
Loosen the transmission, and start wrestleing the engine to all extremities of possible movement.
Not a job for the faint of heart. There is a reason these guys said it is easier to pull the engine, and I could not agree more. It is possible to do, but you're gonna scratch the hell out of the header coating, and a few more componets, if you don't pull the thing.

You seem to under-estimate the engine's mass, heft, and the room it and you will need to get the pan off of it. It can be done, but forget about it being a precision surgery. It's a job, and then some.

Air tools cut the job's time in half.

Jim

therobski

Totally agree, if you have the space, resources, pull the motor get it on a stand. I don't know the level or condition the rest of the car is in but once the engine is out, great time to clean up or restore the engine bay, replace any other worn parts, wires, get some things re-painted powder coated etc. Remember it's a hobby

Bluevista

Before I decided to pull my engine and have it rebuilt I changed the pan gasket, '71 350 in the Vista. I didn't have a cherry picker at the time so I made a lifting jig out of angle iron that bolts to the front of the block (crude version of the dealer service tool in the CSM) to lift it with a floor jack then stuck 2x4 blocks under the motor mounts.
It was no big deal after that, have to have the front crank counterweight in the up position so the pan clears it.
May be a lot different in your car.

Air tools may cut the work time in half but they also break things in half.
I like being able to feel their inner "Chi" and become one with my fasteners.

Warhead

Use air tools with common sense.
Do not use an impact while tightening pan bolts, or even starter bolts.
Use torque wrench when prescribed by manual.
All other items, final tightening by hand.
I gathered that he knew this.
Glad you brought it up though.
Jim

Tom Bilse

Thanks again for the prompt replies/input.
I was hoping to remove the pan without completely removing the engine (no humor intended) because I'm nearing the completion of cleaning/painting/detailing/re-installing virtually everything in/around the engine bay (installed the core support yesterday) and don't want to re-do too many things (I hate inefficiency - especially when I do it). I'm very inexperienced at this sort of thing and am learning as I go. I'm certain some of you in CO land can do this stuff in your sleep.
To put this to rest, I visited the car this morning (it's about 20 miles away from home - another reason for wanting to re-do as little as possible, as I can only work on it maybe once a week). The pan damage looked worse (viewing from the front of the car) than it actually is. The body man confirmed he can repair it without removal -- BIG load off my mind.