Took the Oil Pan off yesterday. I am doing this upside down as the engine would sit in a truck. It has been a loooong time since I changed out an oil pan ON the truck. With rods in my back, it's hard to get down there, but it's all clean under there now with all of the old sealer removed. Nothing else in the pan. No pipe wrenches, crowbars, etc.
The pan needed LOTS of massaging. Each hole was stretched and the end bolt holes (the 4 corner 5/16" bolts) were bent up too. I probably did all of this damage trying to stop the leaking. So like Carl said, lots of tinsmithing later, it's all done and ready for the Rock Auto order to come in.
In looking at this problem of the holes bending upwards, I think it's a good idea to use flat washers on all of the bolts. The extra wide surface may keep that from happening as quickly. The washers do not interfere with any of the features of the pan, so it seems like the thing to do. Of course, no Gorilla'ing the bolts during assembly.
