I am with jst, VCG and valley pan are just crazy PITA. I am taking it easy right now on both jobs, so far I get the VCG replaced and got the whole intake manifold out, I cut a piece of plywood about 25" long as pedestal so I can kneel on top of the engine to get to coolant manifold at the firewall, it gets late so I need to continue tomorrow. No wonder dealer wanted $1600 just for Valley pan on top of $1000 for VCG.
This is on 4.4i V8.