Ennis, I did some research and found this old post by JBrian on one of the Ford Forums. Couldn't get the link to work so I stole the guts from his post. From my experience this just about sums it up. Almost anything you try won't be this tough.
1) Remove air intake plenum (all the black plastic on top of engine).
2) Remove fan - let it stay in the cowling, no need to remove the radiator or the fan shroud). You'll have to loosen the serpentine belt to get the fan off.
3) Lift van to comfortable working height. Remove dog house cover inside van (helps to be able to see from this side while you are working).
4) Unbolt both sides of the exhaust system from the exhaust manifolds. Air impact needed. Be careful - those bolts will be hot. Watch that you do not snap anything off.
5) Unbolt transmission from frame support (2 bolts)
6) Remove both transmission cooler lines, plug the tranny and the cooler holes. These need to come out completely so you have unrestricted access to the oil pan bolts on the passenger side of the van.
7) Disconnect starter wiring (it gets in the way). Oh yeah - make sure you FIRST disconnect the NEGATIVE battery cable.
8) Remove the 4 engine to motor-mount bolts.
9) Jack engine up about 3 inches (that's all you're going to get on a van). You can lift the engine by the oil pan - it'll hold all day long.
10) Unbolt and remove both the motor mounts. This is a bear to do, but necessary. The motor mounts REALLY get in the way of the oil pan. You will NOT get it out with the motor mounts installed.
11) Lift the engine as far as it will go. Be careful and look for stuff on the top that might get in the way.
12) Cut two pieces of 4X4 lumber to the correct length to wedge in between the engine mount and the frame. The driver side will be about 7 or 8 inches long (square on both ends). The passenger side is shorter (about 4-5 inches with an angled side). You'll understand when you look at it. After you have the proper wedges cut and in place, slowly lower the engine onto the wood.
Now the work begins.
13) Remove all the oil pan bolts. There should be 18 of the small ones on the sides, and 4 of the big ones (two on the front, two back by the transmission).
14) Rap on the oil pan with a mallet, it will fall off.
15) The ONLY way you'll get the oil pan off is to reach in with an open ended wrench and unbolt the oil pump (two bolts) and the sump (one bolt). Let them fall into the pan.
16) Have a buddy pull down on the exhaust cross pipe while you push the oil pan rearwards over the cross pipe - this takes alot of effort, but it will make it thru.
17) Scrape off and clean everything. I replaced the oil pump, drive shaft and sump/screen since I already had it all apart. While the pan is out of the way - make a note of where the oil pump drive shaft connects to inside the engine - this will be very helpful later when you reinstall the pump.
18) My advice - wait to put RTV on the oil pan till after you get it re-inserted under the engine. I didn't do this - got ALL the RTV on my arms (I'm not kidding, all of it wiped off on my arms while I struggled to get the oil pump installed).
19) Place the oil pump assemble in the oil pan - prime the pump as best you can. Install pan in revers (need your buddy again).
20) The oil pump has to be installed first, with the oil pan in place. This is going to be very hard, you will need a friend to go around the front of the engine to screw in the front oil pump bolt. Don't forget to install the oil pump drive shaft - it slides into the bottom of the distributor shaft - remember I told you to look for that. You'll have a hard time seeing this with everything in place, but it can be done - use a flashlight).
21) The only way to torque these oil pump bolts is with a crowsfoot wrench and a torque wrench. I was only able to make it work with the rear bolt, couldn't fit it all together the front bolt. I just tightened it all down as tight as possible.
22) The rest is cake. The oil pan gasket can be snaked into place and you can work in the RTV right before you bolt into place. You'll just need to put all the oil pan bolts back in, reassemble all the junk you took off.
I would suggest accessing the pan bolts for a little re-torque and maybe put off a gasket swap for ALAP.......