Help remove oil pan

[dkgd91]

Hello i have to change my oil pan because he leaks 

Anybody know how to do it on a 351 C in a 1971 mustang , and what  New oil pan and gasket  Can i use? (i'm using the car only for street and not for Race)

Thanks for your answer and sorry for my Bad english i'm french

 

[71coop]

I did this over the winter. I had to raise the engine to make enough room between the cross member and engine in order to remove the pan.

Unbolt your fan shroud and remove the long horizontal bolts from the motor mounts. The sway bar will also need to be removed, and I would also suggest removing the shock tower braces. You can place a flat board under the oil pan and jack the engine up. Once the engine is perhaps 2 inches higher than the frame mounts, use small blocks of wood between the frame mounts and the motor mounts.

You can then remove the jack used to raise the engine, and should have enough room to remove the pan without interference from the oil pump. Clean, clean clean the mating surfaces on the block and the pan. Then clean them again.....

I used a milidon pan gasket. Permatex #2 was the sealant I used to hold the gaskets in place while I reassembled.

 

[Hemikiller]

Agree with 71coop's process. If you do get the pan hung up on the pump, you'll need to remove the two bolts that hold it to the block and drop it into the pan for removal. 

I'd also suggest you replace the pickup screen, and carefully inspect your timing chain for slack. If it's loose, now's the time to replace it. 

 

[tony-muscle]

+1 I was able to get it out w/o removing the sway bar. However, it will help a lot not having it there plus the sway bar is very easy to remove.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

It for sure is a pain. I actually prefer to pull the engine is faster for me but I have lift and great area to work. One thing you might do is make you a couple cut off bolts to guide the pan back on. One trick we used before they had some of the good sealers to hold gasket in place was to use tiny sewing thread and tie the gasket to the pan in several places so it did not move. If you find pieces of black rubber or white plastic in pan you have bad valve stem seals or timing gear so you need to do more work.

 

[71coop]

I don't know how pulling the engine is faster, considering all you have to remove or unbolt (remove hood, unbolt tranny, remove all engine harness/wiring, any accessory hardware (esp. AC) that needs to remain connected. All of that vs just removing a couple of easily accessible items then raising the engine a couple of inches from below. I've got a lift, a cherry picker and all the tools I need to disassemble a car. The lift makes raising the engine from beneath really easy.

I do agree that one clear advantage to pulling the engine is the ability to work on the block/pan without any obstructions. No question that it makes it easier to do a good job, but getting there is more overall work, in my opinion.

 

[turtle5353]

I would rather pull a motor any day rather than try to wiggle a pan out and try not to mess up the gaskets. I can have my motor out in 1 hour and 45 minutes easy. 

 

[Stanglover]

I would rather pull a motor any day rather than try to wiggle a pan out and try not to mess up the gaskets. I can have my motor out in 1 hour and 45 minutes easy. 

 Kevin, you're about 15 mins faster than me pulling my motor. I've been following this post because on my motor, I may have to either pull it again or do the old piss around and wriggle it out deal. Long story short, the plug hole thread got stripped and had to be fitted with an oversize plug.  Although this was 8 years ago and I now do all my oil changes, that thread is starting to feel like it's about to let go and I'm getting worried about it. Not only that, dumb sh*t here put a dent in the pan, so I'm looking for a replacement pan and they're hard to find anymore. Besides, I don't have a hoist, I have to rent one. What to do? Keep my fingers cross the thread holds, change the pan in the car or pull the motor again.  In the past on another Mach 1, I blew a clutch to pieces and that also took out the rear main seal. I somehow managed to change all that laying on my back with the car on jack stands, but that was when I was in my early 30's........ 40 years ago.

 

[Hemikiller]

I would rather pull a motor any day rather than try to wiggle a pan out and try not to mess up the gaskets. I can have my motor out in 1 hour and 45 minutes easy. 

I've seen yours and David's garage in pics here. A setup like either of them makes it cake to pull a motor, but the OP may not have a facility like that. Having swapped out a snapped oil pump shaft circa 1991 in a Home Depot parking lot, I can attest it's quite doable in a couple hours with basic hand tools, a floor jack and some 2x material for blocking. 

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I have done both ways and always pull the engine now. If I recall correctly the Chilton manual is wrong they tell you to unbolt the front cross member which is welded in, lol. The core plugs are bad to rust out also so when engine is out easy to change them also but if in real pain if in the car. I have pulled engine and not unhook the air before also.
I pulled the engine out to clean my engine compartment when doing the 73.
A good strip shop can get engine out in less than 5 min. lol. I went with a friend to Oak Ridge Tenn. to get an engine he wanted for his 55 chevy back in the 60's was a SOHC Pontiac 6 cylinder. Every hose and wire on that engine had been cut and was a brand new engine. I am sure it was stolen.