If you choose to pull the oil pan, be aware that it has an oil manifold and spray nozzles attached to the pan that lubricate the connecting rods with streams of oil that spray into dippers on the rods. Be extremely careful not to bend or damage the nozzles, as they require a factory fixture to aim them properly, and the fixture is scarce and expensive to rent or buy. An out of alignment nozzle will result in a rod bearing failure due to lack of lubrication at highway speeds. I've got one of the fixtures that was given to me by another bolter, but it's not something the average auto shop, or even most machine shops will have, since the last time that system was used on new vehicles was in 1953.
Jerry
