dropping the oil pans with the exhaust in place

[davidpertuz at mindspring.com]

Finally getting started (sort of) on the rod bearing job on my SE-R, I am struck by how nasty everything looks under there - ick! The exhaust secondary is a bit bad - it's a 3G Hotshot but has had many northern winters under the car, and the secondary is intact but rusty and ugly. I am not so sure I can successfully remove the bolts at the cat, so I started pondering the possibility of just removing the bolts at the header, removing the cat hangers from the body, and sort of pushing the whole exhaust off to the side - then support the trans with a jack after removing the crossmember and keep the exhaust on the other side of the jack. not exactly ideal - it is cramped enough down there  as it is - but I don't want to risk dealing with snapped studs or rounded bolt heads. 

Have any of y'all removed the (upper) oil pan without fully removing the exhaust secondary? Is it doable? Given the time crunch I'm in (thanks to my procrastination and an imminent move to Chicago) it is almost worth my paying someone else to do the job! Mon dieu!

thanks,
David