In my quest to swap out my oilpan today, I realized it is pretty much impossible for me to do. The DC 1 piece header is not going to budge enough for me to be able to drop the pan. In fact, it is so tight that it is sitting right against the pan when fully bolted down and only has 1/4" of clearance from the pan once it is loose. Additionally, it pretty much sits right on the front crossmember and will not budge off of the studs that go into the head. If I had a 2 piece header, this would not be an issue and I would be done by now.

Any suggestions besides taking a sawzall and turning the 1 piecer into a 2 piecer?

Why does everything have to be so damn difficult?