I put on a timing set to get rid of the 10 degrees of slop in the hope of smoothing out the idle. What a PITA! I've gotten to the point of having to remove the oil pan to get the timing cover back on. Of course there is only an inch of room below the pan to the crossmember and I'm not sure if i can get the engine up enough to clear the oil pump intake with the pan. Am I going to have to pull the engine to put my timing cover back on!? I wish I had a cherry picker and an engine stand.


79 4x2 351M 4 speed manual.

 

Never had that much of a problem with mine. I never had to raise the engine or anything.

 

You only need to drop the front of the oil pan about half an inch. Not too hard to figure out.

 

You should be able to loosen a few of the pan bolts in the front and pry it open a tad. It only takes a 3/8" or so. You need to clean it up good and reseal with RTV.