dougie: stripping threads is one of the reasons i do it the way i do. i no longer have to worry about stripping the 600 dollar oil pan. and dont have to remove any underbody panels.
bfivelover: i have ramps at home, but thats just one other thing to mess with. dont need them on my jeep (just scoot under there. 4" lift helps

) and now i dont have to bother for the insight oil change either.
IT: i looked in the other thread for your comments about the silicone, but couldnt find anything. you are correct about that stuff ruining the cat. i use a very small amount on the filter gasket. i dont think it could migrate from there to the combustion chamber, and then out the exhaust system to the cat. never know though. i guess it could wash off the edge of the filter gasket and get past the rings or valve guides and get burned. i'm betting against it. the reason i dont use oil is as follows:
back when i was working as an aircraft mechanic (16 years worth) we always used oil to lube the gasket. (the filters were labeled "oil or silicone grease".) never had a problem. then, all of a sudden, we went through about a year of stuck filters. very time consuming. very expensive. one of our customers had to have an engine partly disassembled to get the filter off. 8 hours of labor. not cheap!
turns out the filter manufacturer had changed the gasket material and not told anyone. same labels too. so we switched to a light smear of silicone grease. no more stuck filters.
anyway, thats my story and i'm (not) sticken to it!
