[Phil Waterman]

Hi Kevin

Yes, I believe you should be able to drop the sump in situ? I have dropped the sump on my C60S. Watch out though, because even when you have drained the pan it still holds a lot of oil up in the troughs. It is also heavy and awkward. Remember to pull the dip stick out it gets in the way, you need to pull the pan down a little over half inch to clear the oil line tube fitting so that it doesn't get bent.

The 2nd time I dropped the pan I had learned and replace four of the pan bolts with 1" long bolts on the corners. Then I removed the rest of the pan bolts. Then used a putty knife to release the gasket all the way around. If you have a floor jack you might want to put that under the lower sump once the pan is completely loose while you remove the last bolts. The jack will help balance the the pan as you bring it down clear of the front axle and drive shaft.

If your engine has the original deep sump pan, you can tell by looking to see if there is a seam about 3 inches up the sump, the oil pump and pickup screen actually sit down in the lower sump and will tend to catch on the sides of the upper section. The deep sump pans were made by cutting a hole in the bottom of a regular pan and then soldering a second bottom section on. The bottom of the upper pan serves a purpose in helping to prevent the oil from sloshing away from the oil pick up in steep operation or rough terrain.

Cheers Phil