oil pan gasket

[SVOJames]

That was the conclusion I came to.

It might have been "more helpful" if you had posted this earlier, I was just giving giving feedback on how to do an oil-pan replacement with the engine in place.

[Under Pressure]

I just replaced mine last month. I've R & R my engine 4 times for various reasons. One time I lifted the engine up lowered the pan to replace the oil pump. I couldn't get the pan out but it was just enough o replace the pump. The best way to do it is to pull the engine & transmission together then remove the transmission & put the engine on a engine stand. Then it's easy. I've used the one piece rubber gasket & the 4 piece cork. I like the cork better. You have stuff to disconnect but it's not too bad. Have good strong chains & it's a 4 hour job by yourself. Don't forget to disconnect the starter cable from the block & starter and pull the rad. Take your time

I guess you miss this one.

[SVOJames]

No, I did not miss that. My specific question was about replacing the oil pan gasket with the engine in car, but with the gearbox/bell--housing removed and I also specified the 4 piece gasket. ��

[scenario]

Just a heads up, I am in the process of doing this with the engine in the car. The bellhousing and transmission are off the car.

First off, if you have a lift and a few swivel jacks then the job is pretty easy and straight forward with the engine in the car.

You only need to unbolt both motor mounts the (big nut on each) and both mini engine shocks. At this point you just jack the engine up until there is enough clearance to remove the oil pan. That is it.
This could be done on jack stands as well but the issue there would be the "finessing" of the jacks etc...to lift the motor and getting all in place to remove the pan. It would be challenging at that point like others said in this thread.

Like I said, if you have a lift and you have the transmission out anyway then I would do it with the engine in the car and not pull the engine. That is my .02 and just sharing my experience of how difficult I found the job. Good luck to all wrench turners no matter how you tackle the job...

BOTH ways are the right way