Without a pic of the dent - if the pan was whacked enough to hit the pickup, it could be cracked, maybe up at the threads at the block - thinnest spot is the pipe threads.
The dent wasn't that deep (probably at most 1/4") and it ran fine for the 25+ years I had it on the old engine. But as HSDemon said, the guy who installed my engine might have popped most of the dent out of the pan but didn't bend the pickup back down to meet it. Nonetheless, I'm going to inspect everything very closely down there.
