The pan gasket is reusable if it's not torn or cracked. I've cleaned and reused mine 4 times now. Totally agree on that RTV shit, that stuff is a nightmare. Give me a quality gasket over that any day of the week.
Brand new gaskets from ford are cheap. The oem method of checking atf level is beyond fubar. I replaced my pan with a P+B aluminum pan...which is exactly 2.1" deeper then oem..and holds an extra 4 qts. New aluminum pan has a 5/8" thick flange where it meets the gasket. Comes with all new SS hex head screws. Also comes with a locking style dip stick, which comes up on the fire wall, next to the battery. Dip stick opening is big enough to easily get a funnel in there. Aluminum pan also comes with a HD drain plug on the bottom, with the magnetic pickup on the inside. 3/8" wide aluminum ribs run the the length of the alum pan.
Still did not solve my heating problem. With the small M90 blower, the tranny temps would increase from 170 F to 200 F, in just 4-8 seconds. Fix for that was an aftermarket Auto tranny cooler, made by B+M, which is a bar and plate design, aprx 3/4" thick, fits below the oem tranny cooler....and plumbed in series with it.
Beware, the 5r55s will puke out atf fluid all over the road. Fix for that was a JDM engineering catch can, which goes on the side wall on drivers side, near the corner, where side wall meets fire wall.
After all that song and dance, the temp only rises 1-2 degs F, with blower on. 171-172 F...which is a lot better than the 200 F I had before, with the oem setup.
To get all the old atf out, gentle pressure was applied on one side of oem tranny cooler, and some vacuum on the other side. Then it all comes out, including the atf inside the oem tq converter.