Folks, I posted recently on removing oil pan for inspection of oil pickup and lower end of engine. It proved easy to take the pan loose, but it will not drop free of the engine due to interference from the power steering lines which run under the pan. Removing the retainers for the ps lines gave me a little flex but nowhere near enough. As far as I can tell it is impossible to reach in to disconnect these lines at the steering gear end, without extensive disassembly of engine mounts, etc.

Anyone have a workaround on this, other than cutting the lines and recoupling them? These are solid lines, I assume stainless steel or steel-over-copper.