I have an 87 Barth 22' Regal. My mechanic is trying to remove the oil pan with the 454 engine installed. He says he can't remove the oil pan witout first removing the engine. He has removed the crossmember at the front of the pan, removed the motor mounts, jacked the engine up as high as he was comfortable, yet the pan will not clear and drop down enough for him to remove the pan. I read the posts on 454 engine removal. Does anyone have any advice for removing just the pan?

The oil pan can indeed be removed without removing the engine. Is this an experienced mechanic?

There are three ways:

1. Remove the large crossmember under the engine. There are six bolts on each side. The downside is the brake plumbing. It can be a pain. The upside is you have complete access to the crankcase.

2. Disconnect the driveshaft from the trans, unbolt the trans from the rear crossmember, and replace the bell housing bolts with 6 or eight(can't remember) inchers. Use high quality bolts. Slide the trans rearward on the bolts until you can remove the torque convertor and flex plate. Slide the tranny forward again and raise engine and tranny until pan will come off. You will probably have to remove some stuff from the front of the engine. The fan shroud, for sure. I like to raise the engine from inside with a threaded rod.

3. Not recommended, but you CAN raise it high enough to remove the pan without removing the flex plate.