The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Removing the oil pan on a '64 GMC

The oil pan gasket was leaking on my 1964 GMC 1500. I could see it was that squirt-on goopy gasket stuff... so I set out to drop the pan. What a pain!

1. I don't have a repair manual

2. I got all the bolts removed, then figured out I needed to remove the exhast Y pipe. Tip: remove that first, your life will be easier.

Is there an easy way to remove the pan? I did it the hard way. Had to remove the cover off the flywheel, then bump the starter several times to get the crankshaft lined up so it wasn't blocking removal. Then the pan got wedged and I had to have a buddy tap on the front of it while I wiggled/pulled it from the rear.

I need to know if there's an easier way to go about it, because I still have to clean it up, install a new gasket, and reinstall. I wouldn't think I'd need to raise the engine for it. It's going to be a real BEAR to get back in the way it sits.

What motor??
On my six banger I raised the front of the motor about 4 inches.
Pan slid out and back in.

oops, sorry. 305E V6.
How did you go about raising the engine? I have some ideas, but want to use what someone else did and worked. (and avoid one of those "oh s&*t!" moments.

Unbolted the mounts from the towers, put a wood block under the front of the pan and jacked up with my floor jack. Put some 2x2's between the mounts and the towers. Removed the cover off the flywheel too. If you have the pan off you should be able to put a block on the bottom of the block or balancer too.
As you're lifting have someone watch to see if anything else is getting in a bind or a hose is getting stretched.

Excellent, thanks! I was eyeballing it as I was scraping off the old gasket material, and was checking out that spot in front of the pan. I was thinking of jacking it up and just putting the pan on, but I like your idea of 2x2 between the tower and the mounts. I already took the flywheel cover off when I took the pan out, so I'm good there. I've everything all cleaned up and ready to re-assemble, I'll wait until my buddy can come over to assist.

I took some pics of the cleanup process if anyone is interested.
http://captaincheeto.com/pictures/64-gmc/oilpan/

I'll update this as things progress.
If I have the time I want to clean up the underside of the pan and put a fresh coat of paint on it. But since this truck is my driver, if I get the chance to put the pan back on before I find the time it won't get done.

Another tip for you.
Normally when the pan is tightened up the bolts distort the metal around the holes a bit. Pushes the metal towards the rail on the motor. Before you put the pan back on use a ball peen hammer and tap the metal around the bolt holes back the other way. That way the gasket will sit flat between the pan and rail.

i would put in a new oil pump in there while the pan is off. or at least clean the pickup tube. screen looks half plugged in the picture

Yeah, I cleaned the screen and the pickup tube up after those pics were taken.

I was always told "If it don't leak it aint right!"

I guess when they were new from factory and they didnt leak thats was wrong huh

A buddy who used to be a mechanic suggested I replace the rear main seal while I'm in there. I'll have a look at it and see if it looks OK.

Got the engine raised. Only snag was that we unbolted the engine mounts, but the mounts separated when it was raised. i.e. the bracket and mount stayed put on the tower. I'm pretty sure that's OK in the short term, but I should probably replace them.

I also changed the oil filter, and so far no drips at all. I didn't end up doing the rear main.

I updated the link above with pics (forgot to do pics of it raised). Thanks everyone for all your help and suggestions.