Dropping the Oil Pan

Posted by Jim Kavanagh On 2018/7/30 1:23:09

I need to drop the oil pan in my '52 to replace the gasket below the timing chain cover. In an earlier post, Ross advised that I would need to unbolt the idler arm and let the steering assembly drop so I have room to drop the pan. He also advised "You will also have to remove the lower bellhousing half." This said so matter-of-factly that it sounded like no big deal.
I am there now and the idler arm is no problem. The lower bellhousing anchors the pivot for the clutch, but everything else is pretty straight forward. This lower bellhousing is a big beefy hunk of iron. I assume that I can just drop it down without worrying about supporting anything, it does not look like I need to jack the trans up or anything like that. Is that right?
This is a whole lot of trouble to drop an oil pan!