I am gonna just tear her down and start over from the begining..............Is there a away to remove the timing cover without dropping the oil pan?

Originally posted by jeff1216

I am gonna just tear her down and start over from the begining..............Is there a away to remove the timing cover without dropping the oil pan?

There is only one way that I know of, and that is to pull the cylinder head. I'm sure that isn't what you wanted to hear, but I don't know of any other way.

but doesnt the oil pan bolt into the timing cover on all Z's

I recently removed the timing cover on my '71 without removing the head and the oil pan ...... the cover is sandwiched between the two. Trick is to loosen all the bolts on the oil pan and then very carefully pry the front edge of the pan downward, away from the timing cover. Don't bend the pan flange ..... you must make it separate from the block ...... gasket should stay with pan. Don't need to move it much, just enough so the gasket is not holding it to the cover. By some stroke of luck the gasket (never replaced since new in '71) on the pan was not damaged for reassembly but I did use some brush on permatek sealant to make sure it did not leak. I had no problem with the head gasket at the top since my head was recently refurbished and I did not use any sealant where it contacted the timing cover. Good Luck.

Originally posted by ZmeFly

but doesnt the oil pan bolt into the timing cover on all Z's

Yes it does. You'd obviously need to undo the pan to cover bolts to remove the cover whether or not you pulled the pan or head or neither in order to get the cover outta there.

Originally posted by kinfish (Major snips by bambi)

I recently removed the timing cover on my '71 without removing the head and the oil pan ............... Trick is to loosen all the bolts on the oil pan and then very carefully pry the front edge of the pan downward, away from the timing cover. Don't bend the pan flange ..... you must make it separate from the block ...... gasket should stay with pan............By some stroke of luck the gasket (never replaced since new in '71) on the pan was not damaged for reassembly but I did use some brush on permatek sealant to make sure it did not leak.

I think Kinfish was luckier than 80% of folks would be, to get the pan gasket to release from the block without damage to the gasket or pan flange.