[Fot] What is best to remove old gasket

[Randall]

> Need something I can sort of paint on the oil pan contact 
> surface on the block
> in the car (overhead) to loosen so scraping is a little less 
> violent. 

I've been using Loctite "Chisel" gasket remover.  Comes in a rattle can
instead of brush, and is kind of pricy and slow.  Still works better than
anything else I've found.
http://goo.gl/mCvnl

Looks like the active ingredient is mostly methylene chloride, so the old
"aircraft" paint stripper might work as well, if you can still find the
MC-based stuff.

-- Randall