TOPIC:

I've decided that before I put the oil back in the engine after my valve-seal re & re that I'm going to drop the DG and Rad. and remove the oil-Pan. It's never been off. As a One-Owner, I'm not concerned about finding anything weird in it, but figure, " It's time, so why not?"
I'll take some pictures and share the results.
Now I'm committed !

I changed the oil pan on my 1979 for the later large capacity sump. When I removed the old sump everything was surprisingly clean inside. There was one or two small pieces of what looked like old gasket material and a little bit of sludge in the bottom. I was quite pleasantly surprised, because I had seen some pictures on line where the gauze screen was almost completely blocked.

From the time I started to having the oil-pan on the bench took 65 minutes. The header was removed as one piece. Turned the handle-bars to the right and the DG c/w muffler pulled out from the front. I was concerned about the pan being stuck to the block, having read of those who had problems. I took the off-set 17mm wrench from the tool-kit, and made the "assembly" in the photo. A simple slide-hammer" type of tool. Placed the wrench on the front drain-bolt, gave the "slide" 2 light taps downward to the "stop" created by the vice-grips and the pan fell off. The gasket remained intact and stuck to the block.

Removed the screen and washed it and the pan. Very clean for 80,000K.

This is what washed out of the screen and into a paint-filter. Several of the tiny pieces were ferrous. The "skinny" length of foreign-material; I think is gasket material. The other
wider long piece is a sliver of brass shim-stock (?). This is the same material I make the Brass Floats out of. It had a curl to it so it is clearly a "trimming" but how it got into the pan is a mystery to me. It was most likely caught in what I thought was a clean rag and perhaps fell into the top of the engine during a valve adjustment/check, at some point in the past. The majority of the material found in the screen appears to be "fuzz" from paper-towels and rags - the same type of material found in my fuel filter (if you remember that article) Go Figure!
I've got 6 new header gaskets ready for the re-assembly but am deciding as to whether I'll bolt the pan back onto the original gasket or buy a new one. I'm in no rush to get it back together if I have to wait for a new gasket but have had good fortune and positive experiences re-using intact gaskets. NOTE: I called the local Kawi. dealer and was told that Kawasaki no longer has them in inventory. Fortunately there are lots of other sources but I find some of the prices plus shipping, quite ridiculous for what you're actually paying for. It would not be difficult to make one so I may opt for that.
I'm going to glass-bead the O/S of the pan to remove the age-stains, will polish the O-ringed elbow, pan-bolts, drain plugs and touch-up the already polished filter-cover and put it back together when I've decided about the gasket. This is an easy one day job and there's nothing to be intimidated about.

After so many years, I think the oil pan deserved to be acquainted with.
Mine came off after tapping here and there, felt like stuck solid at first. It was quite a bit of constant work but it was off after no more than 30 minutes. I think decades of just standing around made everything less pliable. Good think it got sealed well this way.

Here a couple pick for your reference. As a reminder, it's a 1982 A4. The oil pan now cleaned and ready for a paint coat and then back on the shelf.
If you can spot it, I replaced the OEM oil drain plug with one that has a magnetic element. It's a Subaru - I read somewhere they fit. Perfect. My first performance upgrade, haha