When I worked at the Pontiac dealer, I did allot of oil pan gasket replacements, in the chassis. Many under warranty. Pontiac's are leakers for sure. I would not attempt to do a pan with the car on the floor. You really need a lift so you can work the pan out and back in without ruining the new gasket, especially the rear rubber or cork seal. When I did them on a 2nd gen car, I unbolted the fan shroud so it was loose under the hood, removed the distributor as well. No way the pan is coming out with an HEI in there. Even a points dist. could be broken against the trans tunnel. You remove the engine mounts and jack the engine all the way up as far as it will go, jamming the transmission into the tunnel. I lifted the engine at the harmonic balancer using a wood protective fixture I carved out of a 4x4. Once the engine is all the way up, remove all the pan bolts and drop the pan. If the engine has a windage tray, remove it before removing the pan. That makes it easier. You will also need to drop the oil pump into the sump before working the pan out. You may need to turn the crankshaft so the front counterweights are at 12:00. That will give you a little more room as well to sneak the pan off. It's not an easy job. Most people prefer to remove the engine for a cleaner repair on a collector car.
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