I bought a kit off Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
As to the reasons for this job: I have to admit that I can't really figure out where the oil leakage came from. Most of the rubber seals are very brittle and the o-rings are also brittle. The oil in the spark plug openings clearly comes from the valve cover seals but the mess on the front of the engine has no clear single source. The chain guide wear was minimal in my view. The Vanos seals were hardened and refreshing the Vanos was necessary. So a lot of good reasons but nothing stands out overwhelmingly as near failure.
At present the trans is once again mated with the engine and the torq conv attached to the flywheel. Added fluid as much as it will take without the engine running. Put a new flex disk in the front drive shaft and cleaned/greased the splines. Also refreshed the TCase fluid.
Tomorrow the timing covers will go on and I ordered a new Crankshaft bolt for the vibration damper hub. I bought a piece of 3/8" rubber hose for the filter drain line, I don't feel like replacing the whole assembly if a piece of hose is about 5% of the price..... By Friday evening I expect to have it ready to wheel the whole assembly under the car.
Pics are of the sub-frame coming back on the cart that will carry the whole assembly back under the car. Second pic shows the engine mounted on the sub-frame. I will add a picture later of the whole thing when it is all together and going under the chassis.
The ABS module should be back on Saturday. Parts for the front suspension came this morning. I am thinking about opening the inner boots so I can pop the axles into the diff and repack the inner joints later.
The biggest challenge will be reassembling the front of the car. It is a long time since I took it off and my recollection of that is sketchy....