187 Pan Removal

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matthon

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Original 383 car, 187 pan, not sure on the pick-up.

What does it take to get the oil pan off?

Or is it possible to swap out the gasket without completely removing the pan?

The bolts above the k-member look near impossible to get.

Not pulling the engine anytime soon.

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I use 1/4" drive stuff for its small diameter. I use a 1/4" universal to get to the tight spots. I believe you have to jack the engine up off the mount pads to get the pan out.
 
Are we talking remove the inspection cover too, so the pan can move back first to drop the front?

The trans is out, car is up on ramps, which are on top of 2x6s.

Jacking it up might not work, I'm not sure I could even get my crane on it because the car is pretty high, and I don't want it to pull the engine forward as the fan is close to the rad.

Is there an easy way to get the steering out of the way, and is that even enough to get it out?

Just trying to visualize before I get too deep as it's getting cold and I need to make this move again.
 
At a minimum have to take the center link off and jack up the engine a bit. Yes it sucks.
 
The crank CW or journal may prevent you from sliding the pan back without lifting the engine a bit. Maybe it was B-bodies where I read someone took the CL off on the passenger side only and swung it out of the way enough to get their pan off.
 
Its like saying i want my window down but dont want to turn the crank.
There is not a hope in getting the pan out if you dont raise engine a little. Crane boom all the way out, drop a chain and pull a motor mount bolt or two.
 
A 187 doesn’t have any baffels so it may come out without lifting the motor cause u have the tranny out. U will still need to take/drop the steering linkage. U can turn the crank with a strong arm and I short extension and a 1 1/4 socket. Good luck to ya. Kim
 
Ok, all helpful.
I think I'll make sure I can get to all the bolts, and if so remove them all.
If for some reason the gasket is free, I don't see any harm in just wiping the surfaces down and replacing.
If not, try to swing the CL out of the way and see if there is enough clearance.
If not, raise engine with crane a bit.

I need to get the darn trans back in so this thing can be moved, but I find hard to just leave this as is while it's staring me in the face.
 
So... how did it go?

I had to pull my pan to fix some leaks, and since I was going to upgrade to PST torsion bars anyway, I just dropped the K-frame instead. It's really not that much work, and there is a LOT of room under there with no front suspension! Of course I do have an AR motor plate so mounts and jacking up the engine weren't an issue.

Anyhow it's something to consider. I always hate to take half the car apart to get to the part I am trying to replace, but sometimes it's better in the long run. :rolleyes:

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Its like saying i want my window down but dont want to turn the crank.
There is not a hope in getting the pan out if you dont raise engine a little. Crane boom all the way out, drop a chain and pull a motor mount bolt or two.

Exactly. ....and no offense to Matt when I say this......you know my smartassness, lol, but dang man, if you aren't willing to raise the engine to remove the pan, why on Earth do you even have an old car? You don't need an engine hoist. You can do it off the balancer with a floor jack and block of wood. Disconnect the motor mounts, raise the engine and stick some small 2x4s between the motor mounts and k member. And again, no offense, but in the time you've batted this around on the internet you could have done this job several times.
 
One more tip. Don't forget to knock the oil pan bolt holes flat again. Over time, they get over tightened and bend the holes in the pan until they touch the block. This makes it impossible to tighten the gasket properly and it will always leak. Lastly, the oil pan bolts do have a torque spec. Going beyond that will cause the problem I just outlined.
 
Good advice. I also just invested in Andy's pan reinforcing rail set ($45), so I won't have to take a hammer to my Milodon 30930 again :)

Cool. I didn't realize anyone made that. Wouldn't be hard to make but if it's reasonable it's well worth it.
 
if you aren't willing to raise the engine to remove the pan, why on Earth do you even have an old car? You don't need an engine hoist. You can do it off the balancer with a floor jack and block of wood

Oh, I agree 100%, you are a smartass, ha!
Seriously though, I do agree.

I've raised the engine countless times swapping motor mounts and headers. Did it no problem.
My issue was the trans was out and the engine was supported with a steel bar across the fenders, wood and padding under it. I have a crane right there, so it seemed easier.
Also, the balancer is right above the k-frame.

Unfortunately due to the impending weather, and tired of freezing my *** off, I needed to get the trans back in and move it to make some needed space.

I'll get to it when it gets warmer again.

Oh, and the trans swap is covered in another thread, and it's not going well, again, today was not a good day.
 
Oh, I agree 100%, you are a smartass, ha!
Seriously though, I do agree.

I've raised the engine countless times swapping motor mounts and headers. Did it no problem.
My issue was the trans was out and the engine was supported with a steel bar across the fenders, wood and padding under it. I have a crane right there, so it seemed easier.
Also, the balancer is right above the k-frame.

Unfortunately due to the impending weather, and tired of freezing my *** off, I needed to get the trans back in and move it to make some needed space.

I'll get to it when it gets warmer again.

Oh, and the trans swap is covered in another thread, and it's not going well, again, today was not a good day.

Well man, I know this is useless, but if you were local, we'd whoop that bad boy right in the shop and get my little heater goin. For whatever that's worth. lol
 
Yeah, I plan on getting a gas line out there, insulation, etc.
It should have been #1 on the list of auto related improvements, don't know what I was thinking.
It wasn't so bad, but freezing cold tools, car, floor, everything, takes it's toll quickly.
What a waste of half the year.
 
Yeah, I plan on getting a gas line out there, insulation, etc.
It should have been #1 on the list of auto related improvements, don't know what I was thinking.
It wasn't so bad, but freezing cold tools, car, floor, everything, takes it's toll quickly.
What a waste of half the year.

You'll get r done man. Stick with it.
 
Yeah, I plan on getting a gas line out there, insulation, etc.
It should have been #1 on the list of auto related improvements, don't know what I was thinking.
It wasn't so bad, but freezing cold tools, car, floor, everything, takes it's toll quickly.

I totally agree. The best money I spent on the shop was getting it fully insulated. Cold temps around here average in the low-to-mid 30's. With the insulation, I can fire up a 40K BTU propane heater and with two huge ceiling fans blowing the heat back down, a 15 minute warm-up period is all I need. Put on the mangy shop coat and it's time to turn wrenches in (relative) comfort.
 
I totally agree. The best money I spent on the shop was getting it fully insulated. Cold temps around here average in the low-to-mid 30's. With the insulation, I can fire up a 40K BTU propane heater and with two huge ceiling fans blowing the heat back down, a 15 minute warm-up period is all I need. Put on the mangy shop coat and it's time to turn wrenches in (relative) comfort.

I hear you. My garage would sometimes get up over 80 degrees if you can believe it. And during the long winter months (December through February) I would suffer mightily when the outside temperature would drop as low as 50 degrees during the day. Putting a mini-split AC/heating system in my garage fixed all of that.
 
So, the trans is out again, and I thought it was time to do the oil pan gasket.

With the front end up already and the motor mounts unbolted, the engine crane didn't pull the engine up that much.
It's up maybe a half inch on one side, but it lifted the bellhousing enough where I could remove the jack stand holding that up so I had room to work.

Might be able to get the pan off and on without raising the engine.

The right centerlink joint, although all of it is newer, was stubborn as heck to separate.
Even with the fork tool, the rubber got ripped.

One thing I can't figure, when it finally let loose, the nut was on a little so it wouldn't fly off in my face, the nut would just spin with the stud of the joint. I had to cut the nut and split it.

Is the threaded side of the joint supposed to spin forever?
Can I just get a new rubber boot, or do I need a new joint?


Also, I noticed the pan had a rub mark on it, but I don't know if it was like that or I did something removing it.

Going with this reusable gasket/windage tray. Heard good things.

Didn't take long at all, except for the one joint, and the nut from the frame mount went flying off. I looked everywhere, no luck.

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Thank you. Thought that as well, but I don't see the mark in the before pics and I've been under this car for a year and never noticed it.

Of course I'll double check before install and modify if necessary, or use the original pan.

Anyone know what's up with the joint?
 
When they start to get a little loose they pivot up and down on the shaft that’s bolted to the K frame. Maybe the thru bolt is loose. Kim
 
It's perfectly normal for the stud to turn in the joint. As they wear in, they get easier to turn. I've never had to split the nut to get one off though. That was a little drastic. Bumping them with an air gun has worked every time for me. Sometimes, you need to pry the joint back together with a pry bar while bumping it with the air gun to let the angle fit of the stud help hi]old it from turning.
 
I tried that exactly, prying together with a pry bar, holding pliers between the nut and center link, couldn't get it to turn either way.
I'll check the threads, maybe they were messed up when the nut was put on originally.
I kept all the old parts when replaced, so I should have a boot and nut.

So glad to get rid of that oil leak.

Thank you all.
 
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