update...
well, i had to do this manuever myself after being rescued by the RAC. tis indeed not all that difficult or time consuming, if you do it right (which i didn't do 100%). points to note however.
0. jack the car up a little. not even enough to lift the wheels off the ground, but a bit of clearance so you don't hang yourself horizontally on the bumper (or in the case of mk2, the sharp metal bodywork - even worse!) is nice. a good way to do it is if your road has a lot of camber, get in pretty close to the kerb then lift up one side until the whole thing's level, and approach the task side-on.
1. run the engine briefly so the oil warms a little and will run out a bit more eagerly (and is mixed so the old sludge is carried out by suspension in lighter, newer, freshly over-topped oil).
1a. dont make it too hot though - a minute or two of idle is plenty. if the temp needle moves
at all give it a good 5 or even 10 minutes cooling off time. You might think 50'c air temperature coming out of a 2kw heating fan is hot? here's a thing to consider - water is 20x more thermally conductive than air (chills or scalds you much more effectively), and things cook quicker fried than boiled because oil is even more so. try it at 60'c or more........................ ouchie.
(sooooooooooo glad i had the marigolds on)
2. long sleeved rubber gloves are preferable. that, and/or swarfega, sugar soap...
3. OLD CLOTHES. as in stuff you care so little about you cant even be arsed to throw it away.
4. make sure your pan is correctly aligned and deep enough. if using one of those fancy canisters which is like an oil bottle but with a pan moulded on the side and a removable stopper at one end of the pan, have the stopper hole to the FRONT of the car. otherwise oil goes on road.
5. dont park on the driveway. (i didnt - thankfully)
6. adjustable wrench or, surprisingly, the same size spark-plug wrench tool as you'd use on the top of the engine works well. dont know what size it is, but it's not the 10mm spanner size used everywhere else on the car.
7. nice firm grip on the bolt. the oil when this full comes out quickly and with some force - you dont need to let it run for long (10-15 seconds tops) before it will have dropped a half litre and it's time to retest, so you dont want to overdo it by dropping the bolt and having to scrabble for it and try to restopper the hole without cross-threading. Better to have it ready-aligned and in place. plus it means you wont lose the washer, or have to put the old sludgy sump-bottom oil back in if you dont have enough to top up the loss with.
8. biological stain-eating 30'c whites-only washing powder on standby. it does wonders for getting rid of oil patches if you sprinkle on sparingly, rub in with a broom then hose off.
9. plenty of kitchen roll or other large-sheeted tissue material as well.
yes, still easy - just requires preparation to go smoothly
