Can I drop oil pan in SBC without lifting engine?

[AllGoNoShow]

Need to replace a leaking rear main seal on my 350 SBC in my 68 C10. I came across a post from a squarebody which said the engine doesn't need to be lifted and with the crank in the proper orientation, the oil pan will come right off. Is this also true for the 67-72 c10s? I have the CCP SBC mounts in the normal position if that matters. Just trying to avoid disconnecting a bunch of stuff if I don't need to. Thanks!

[ESC]

I just pulled my pan off, had to remove motor mount screws & used a floor jack to raise engine a few inches and used a couple pieces of wood to hold engine up to remove the jack. Gave me the clearance I needed, ive a 72 C10 sbc

[67C10Step]

Not sure where my earlier response went but ESC is advising you well. I did this exact thing last winter when I changed the pan gasket on my truck. If you don't have some of these wood wheel cribs I would recommend building some. Not having to work around jack stands was a plus.

[C101972]

On any small or big block Chevy you can remove pan with out engine removal.
Turn the crankshaft either by hand or bumping it, have balancer mark at 6:00 that way all the journal’s are up in block.
Remove the motor mount bolts, you can then put a 2x4 or 4x4 on your floor jack and jack the motor up.
Having the blocks under the balancer, jack it up enough to get blocks under the motor mounts again or some other place suitable.
It only needs to go up maybe 3-4 inches to get your pan out.
Hopefully this helps.
Thanks Chuck
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[72SB]

NEVER jack a motor up by balancer

[C101972]

Done it hundreds of times and never ever had a problem.
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[kwmech]

Awfully hard on the nose of the crank and the rubber on the damper. I've done it myself as a last resort

[PbFut]

If balancer is in reasonably good condition, it will not hurt it to use as a jacking point to lift the engine a few inches needed to clear for pan removal. It is not the best method and should be last resort if a hoist is not available. I did this a few months ago with no ill effect. Give yourself plenty time to do this job. Its kind of a PITA and messy, but nothing too difficult.

[KQQL IT]

My squarebody one fell out no lifting of anything. Took the bolts out turned around to put the tools down and it fell out on its own.

And if had to lift it I would use the fuel pump pad or exhaust manifold

[Furno68C20]

Just did this last week. It was a pan on a 95 305ci. Engine was in the i6 position and didn’t have any trouble getting it out. Did remove the starter and oil filter but no jacking of engine. Get a one piece pan gasket.
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[schovil69]

Food for thought:

Driving home in my Chevelle one day years ago my alternator light came on. I was close enough to home and the engine didn't appear to be suffering so I drove it home to pop the hood. When I did, I found the balancer off the crankshaft hanging by the belts wrapped around it. That explained the idiot light for the alternator. I didn't have a temp gauge on the car then and didn't see the temp rising. I assume it was rising with no water pump.

The cause of this was a balancer bolt failure. The bolt hole in the crank was a cone, as if the bolt had been broke for a while and the bolt wore it out. I didn't think of it until reading this thread but I now believe that bolt failure could have been created because I used to jack the motor up by the balancer.

[72SB]

If you want a 2 piece crank....jack up the motor by the balancer

Use a folded towel on floor jack under oil pan to jack up motor after removing MM bolts. Use small block of wood in the gap you made raising engine between MM stands and block where other 1/2 of MM is lower engine back down, remove pan.

balancer is not an engine jack point, period....but try it if you want but, in the words of Dirty Harry,...."you feeling lucky punk"

[AllGoNoShow]

Some good info here....I was thinking I was going to need to remove the hood and throttle body and put a hoist on it to lift it from the top. Looks like a floor jack under the oil pan will be a lot easier. Did you guys loosen the transmission mount as well?

Also, great idea on the wood wheel cribs...have been intending on building some for a while. Now I have my reason.

[72SB]

on V8's you will want to at least remove distributor cap and rotor as raising engine it will likely hit firewall. I unbolt exhaust at headers also

Just look at what may be in the way of engine, front, is lifted about 4" and loosen, remove accordingly.

Rotate engine crank so its at #6 TDC so journals are facing up so you have more clearance getting pan off

The Felpro 1 piece pan gasket comes with 4 plastic studs you use on the 4 corners of block to hold gasket & pan up while you insert the other pan bolts. I always use Permatex Black Ultra RTV on the front & rear of (curved part) of gasket/pan side

[jgrote]

This is the ideal way to lift your engine a bit, but just a bit. https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-l...bar-96524.html It's also nice because it allows you to still have the truck in the air.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by jgrote

This is the ideal way to lift your engine a bit, but just a bit. https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-l...bar-96524.html It's also nice because it allows you to still have the truck in the air.

[PbFut]

It always amazes me how over the top the internet can get when discussing a subject so simple as a dropping an oil pan. All the above comments do have merit. It is just so over the top with unneeded steps and tools I have to wonder how the younger generation gets anything done. Remember, this is a 50 year old truck. All these over the top steps were rarely performed. Now there are always exceptions to every situation, but in general, dropping an oil pan should not require special tools or equipment. Do you think the farmers of the late 60s and early 70s would have gone out to purchase a hoist? Take the time to disconnect the exhaust and risk snapping a stud? Remove the distributor for no reason other than to be safe? Come one guys. A SBC crank is capable of withstanding 400+ HP/TQ for decades. Do you think placing ~300 pounds on its nose to lift the motor 3 inches is going to break it? Same for a harmonic balancer in reasonably good condition with a proper pad at the lift point? There is safe and then there is NASA over the top over engineering.
Unbolt the motor mounts.
Lift the engine 3 or 4 inches in the front any manner you want.
Careful not to over stress the lift point, hit the distributor cap, or bend the exhaust. Drop the pan.
Clean the gasket surface.
Swap the RMS while your are in there if you want.
Use what ever gasket you want. The one piece is a good choice.
Make sure you dab a bit of RTV at the corners of the intersection rear cap/block/pan and of pan/block and front cover.
Don't over tighten the pan.
Call it a day, and pop a beer.

[leftybass209]

Originally Posted by PbFut

It always amazes me how over the top the internet can get when discussing a subject so simple as a dropping an oil pan. All these over the top steps were rarely performed. Do you think the farmers of the late 60s and early 70s would have gone out to purchase a hoist? Come one guys. A SBC crank is capable of withstanding 400+ HP/TQ for decades. Do you think placing ~300 pounds on its nose to lift the motor 3 inches is going to break it? Same for a harmonic balancer in reasonably good condition with a proper pad at the lift point? There is safe and then there is NASA over the top over engineering.

There's a lot of fallacy here, but just to cover some bases. YES, it's ignorant to lift a motor from the balancer. Getting away with something that farmers of a generation used to do, doesn't make it good common sense or logical. There's a lot of things people used to do that isn't so smart anymore, like leather helmets on football players.

I've changed track pads on M1 Abrahms tanks in the stupidest, most unfriendly and dangerous environments. That doesn't mean i'll tell someone else to do it that way, or expect them to. Sometimes you need to do what you need to do, you know its dangerous, and accept the risk.

Fixing these trucks doesn't need to be all of what you said either. If someone is asking a question that you think is simple, then assume their knowledge only extends that far, and it's the first time they're doing it. Let them do it correctly, and create their own shortcuts and methods based on their experience, so they have a working first-hand knowledge.

If he jacked up the motor by the balancer and damaged something, are you fixing it, or just shrugging your shoulders and moving on to give advice on another post?

[72SB]

Originally Posted by PbFut

. A SBC crank is capable of withstanding 400+ HP/TQ for decades. Do you think placing ~300 pounds on its nose to lift the motor 3 inches is going to break it? .

yes, seen it. will it happen every time, no.

It was an SBC slowly lifted by damper with floor jack. pan gasket replacement went fine after....a few hundred miles later...crank broke between #1&2 journal and took out the block also

even Russian roulette does not kill you on every pull of the trigger...so you feeling lucky?

Obviously the motor needs to come up some to actually "remove" the pan. a few ways to lift it and support it while lifted have been offered. Other than jack up by balancer, those will work

Yeah we can all look in the mirror and grimace of dumb fing things we have done working on cars and gotten away with it....I for one tend not to share that stupidity but will admit I have done it in various forms

one hack not mentioned is just let pan drop the 1" or so it will without lifting motor. Do what you need to do to scrape old gasket crap out. stretch, finagle 1 piece rubber gasket over pan. Cut part (circle) where dip stick tube goes through or remove dipstick tube before and fish cut gasket around dipstick tube. Gob on RTV where you can in corners. Install bolts, cross fingers for no leaks

Chain hoist from some overhead beam in garage, 2x4 laid across fenders (folded towels between wood and fender) with chain on motor around board to hold it up. Yeah a few ways to skin this cat

[72c20customcamper]

Most farmers used the FEL to lift the engine or a block and tackle to beam in the barn I’ve done both . When I was young we used whatever we could get our hands on including a come along and a tree branch . If you don’t have access to a hoist you can always rent one makes life that much easier .


If you were closer I’d loan ya mine

[geezer#99]

I made a cradle that fit behind the balancer and contacted the front bolts on the pan. Made from a 2x12.
If it didn’t fit then I used a cradle made from 1 inch square pipe that bolted to the old front motor mount holes.
Either worked well.