I do listen to, and respect, Larry's experience and knowledge (I'm sure he's forgotten more about these cars than I'll ever know) and he's helped me many times. I'm just saying that there has to be about an inch clearance between the oil pick-up tube and the bottom of the pan when you take the bolts out and drop it onto the header. With an inspection mirror and a bendy wire tied onto the gasket, seems that you could snake the gasket under the pick-up and pull it out (maybe with another wire).
I know the bolts holding the headers become very stubborn and rigid and can break which can become a nightmare scenario, which to me would be worse than a seepy pan gasket.
Then again, not ever doing it, I really don't know.