Thanks Guys.I had tried once to remove one although I have to admit I did'nt put much effort into it as I was dissassembling the engine anyway.I am getting ready to send engine out to get painted and wanted to remove pan so I did'nt scratch the heck out of it.

Durham Missouri

My original 55 272 had the notches... maybe it was the 239/256?

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Welcome to the site.IF you're dealing with the original '62 engine it will be easier to do than on the earlier ('54, '55, '56 (?)...) valley pans.  My recollection is that the early y- engines did not have notches cut in the edge of the valley pan sheet metal perimeter to help in clearing the intake ports on the cylinder heads.I can't remember when they began adding those, but I believe the early valley pans did not have them.  BUT, I may be mistaken, too!Getting old has consequences! 


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

If you have unmilled, stock heads then you should be ok in getting the pan off without removing the distributor or the heads. You will have to remove the two bolts, dislodge the gasket all the way around, and then slide the pan to one side as far as you can. Now lift up the other side to clear the tabs on the first head. Once you do that, then slide the pan over and lift it off. FYI - if you cork gasket is still thick, or if you used a rubber neoprene seal type gasket for the valley pan, it will be more difficult to remove.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

You shouldn't have to touch the distributor.  The pan is hard to say.  It may come out easily or you may need to pull a head or if you don't care about the pan, just pry it out.  You may need to bevel the aluminum one to make it easy to remove in the future.



Lawrenceville, GA

Not hard at all, although the baffle on the underside can sometimes get hung up in the valley and take some fiddling.   I fabricated my own aluminum cover and had to put some good sized (and beveled) notches in the cover.


Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

How hard is it to remove the valley pan without taking the heads/dizzy out?I have an aluminum one I would like to replace it with.

Durham Missouri