79 engine oil pan removal

Hi,

I have to replace the engine oil pan gasket.  I bought a Fel-Pro one piece gasket.  I then looked in both Haynes and Chilton books for oil pan removal.  They both talk about removing idler arm bolts.  When I looked under the car, the steering assembly is not really in the way.  I removed all the pan bolts, had to use a small pry tool to  separate the pan from the engine then DA!!........  there is a space of almost half inch between the pan and the engine block; there is a flywheel at the back that prevents the sliding of the pan and the pan is resting solidly on the exhaust pipe that goes right under it.   Do I have to disconnect the exhaust pipe from the driver side manifold to get sufficient space to remove the pan ?  Has anyone done that before ?  Any hint welcomed !  Thanks !

Roger

I have true dual exhaust on mine, but did have to drop the steering down as noted in the manuals. Makes it a lot easier.

Yep had to drop the steering and the exhaust. Fun, fun, fun
Glenn

Yanked mine out from the top

yes, you do,spray the exhaust bolts and nuts, work them out,if they come off a little and then get hard to turn, run them back in, then back out, its a in and out thing, it will help from breaking the studs, remember you also have to clear the main caps ,crank,oil pump and screen.

UPDATE

Thanks to all your advice, I spent a couple of hours tonight in the garage and I reinstalled the tranny oil pan with a cork gasket, and then I was able to remove the 3 nuts on each side manifold and then  the 2 bolts that hold the collar at the junction of the collector with the exhaust pipe.  But I stopped there as it was about 90-95 degrees F in my garage tonight.  I'll keep you posted on my oil pan gasket job (tranny and engine).  Thanks to all !

Roger

Yep just did mine as well (71 with tru twin exhaust and headers not rams horns) and it's much easier to undo the passenger header at the head, then undo the steering idler bracket and drop it down.  If you have pwr steer it also helps to undo the hydraulic ram at the frame end.  This allows you to drop the steering links a little further.