[censored], one even filled his ear up with it. With silicone on my fingers, and oil in my clothes, a storm rolling in, no place to put the dogs, I drafted my 16 year old sister to go pick up my girlfriend. She was out of gas, and had to cross a creek anyway, so I gave her the keys to the Jeep. Terrifying. Scratched map in the dirt, and went back to working on the truck. Figured out which side was which, and which side was up on the cork side gaskets, and stuck those to the pan with a little silicone (gasket maker). Smeared a minuscule bit on top for good measure, and went to install the pan. It was like I had never touched a wrench or oil pan bolt in my life. Must have been the thickness of the new gaskets, or maybe just bad universe energy. I could not get the corner bolts to start in their holes to save my life. What should have taken 5 minutes, took maybe an hour. It is possible that the cork was supposed to go under the rubber gasket ends? No idea, but frustrating is a mild description of that morning, especially after moving to the front corners which are blocked by the motor mount cross member. As I am laying under there cramping my fingers trying to set bolts, I can hear the silicone drying, I am talking to peoples ankles about afternoon plans, freshly washed dogs are shaking water on me, and the lightning storm is getting ever closer.
Right as the rain hit, I got the last corner bolt to grab a thread. I pushed the gasket back in place down the side rails, and threaded all the smaller bolt heads in. The rain was not too bad, and the plywood kept me mostly out of the mud, but it was still way more uncomfortable than it needed to be. Still, I managed to tighten all the bolts down properly, going over them multiple times in a stunning crossing patterns. Hooked the springs back up to the one with the clip, seated the oil filter housing with it's new gasket, even remembered to put the plug back in the oil pan. Filled her up with oil, started and tested for pressure, and then did a quick drive up the road. It was hard to tell, but I think it is not leaking. I was late for a thing, so parked the truck, scrubbed my oily self with lava soap, and shelved the brake bleeders for another sunny day.
