Got up this morning intent on getting the 78SA down off the stands and out of storage. Put the battery in, oil, and checked out under the hood. Looked underneath and noticed a few pesky oil drops that I 've been ignoring for years. Started right up. The alternator that I had redone a few weeks ago performed perfectly. Air still blows cold! Put it up on the lift with it running and tried to ignore the oil seepage at the pan gasket for yet another year, but was not to be!

Decided here and now to replace the pan gasket. Sprayed the exhaust bolts and figured I'd get back to it tomorrow. Well, half hour later I tried the bolts and surprisingly all 6  turned right off. One muffler clamp and even the slip joint at the front crossover came right apart! Dropped the steering linkage and the trans inspection cover and started unscrewing pan bolts. Whoops, maybe I better drain the oil first. From the time I decided to do this til having the pan on the floor was maybe an hour. How many hours has doing this been on my mind? I'm not saying I'm fast or anything, just what a joy it is working on a low mile Vette where everything comes right apart without beating on things!

Lightly sandblasted the pan and painted it, this alone being a major decision. Pan looked terrible but it was original. But it does look good with a nice coat of paint on it. Hopefully I can keep from over detailing the rest of the motor. Will put  it back together tomorrow. Can't decide if I want to go with the one piece gasket, but leaning towards going the old fashioned way. When this is done, I may just do the white 79, too. It's FUN when things go so smoothly!

Well, got it back together today. No glitches! Decided on the way to the auto parts store to go with the one piece gasket, but all they had was the one with the thick end seals. Counter guy didn't seem to know what he was looking up, but no way those end seals would compress as much as they would need to. Got the regular gaskets, then. They look "correct" anyway. I use sealer on all my gaskets, don't worry about things coming back apart. My theory is staying together leakfree is more important. Won't put oil in or run it till tomorrow, waiting for the silicone to firm up. Though last night of pulling all the accessories off the motor and painting everything. Nope!  It's only original once.

Crawled under the white 79 and just one little drip hanging there, think I'll wait till fall and see if it gets any worse. No spots on the floor. Here I go again, I'll think about this all summer when doing it would just take a few hours!

Crawled under the white 79 and just one little drip hanging there, think I'll wait till fall and see if it gets any worse. No spots on the floor. Here I go again, I'll think about this all summer when doing it would just take a few hours!

[/QUOTE] I've got nooooo willpower! Looking under the 78SA now and not seeing that oil film on the oil pan was too much. Sooooo, right now the oil pan for the white 79 is setting on my bench for me to sandblast and paint tomorrow. Held out for a whole 3 days.

Can't believe how flattened and brittle the old gaskets were. Anybody planning on doing this the hardest part is getting the front Y-pipe with the crossover off.  Hoping the 3 bolts in each exhaust manifold don't break. Everything else just comes right apart with some common sense.