Yes and yes (IIRC). We (OK, he) just bent the bracket to make the pickup tube fit. It is centered and definitely not touching the pan, but certainly lower than before. At least I am not the owner of some freak motor. I was wondering how long until somebody else had the same problem. I wonder if a new 2.5 pickup tube would fit better? When was yours built? With 92K, it is probably as old as mine is.
I remember seeing my guy show me the head gasket on the block and then placed a SVT head on it. I seem to remember that the outside of the gasket overhung the heads. Prety sure this is because the 3L heads are a little bigger in that area, but Ihave never actually seen a set of 3L heads, so this is all a guess.
