Since I covered details on the TPI board, I want to ask generally about your experiences tackling gasket repair and replacement.
I'm just considering more involved home repair as money remains tight for me
-Bill

Make sure every sealing surface is clean.

Torque specifications and an accurate torque wrench, cleanliness, and the right sealant (if any is needed) will guarantee you only do it once.

The whole engine is on the dirty side of things, sadly. On the TPI forum, the subject of TTY on center mount valves is of concern. I don't have a torque wrench yet or any previous use of one. I heard a click type (IIRC) is preferred at a slight increased cost.
-B

The higher quality click-type torque wrenches are generally more accurate than beam-type ones, if you stick w/ the good names. The cheap clickers will screw you big time and aren't worth it...if money's a big factor, I'd get a beam wrench before I'd get a cheap clicker. I wouldn't build an engine bottom-end or torque heads w/ it, but it's fine for general purpose use like oil pans and valve covers.

Myself and a few others have had Craftsman 'Digitorque' or whatever 3/8" drive clickers fail. I have three torque wrenches, all three get stored in their plastic boxes and never dropped, the 'Digitorque' is the only one that has been problematic. They're < $100 but not worth it IMO.

If you're going to work on your car, a decent tq wrench is a good investment. Snap-On is the best and most $$, the Sears Craftsman Professional series (online/catalog only) are a decent trade-off at $150 or so, that's about as cheap as I'd go before resorting to a beam wrench.

Well, I got a $50 gift certificate for Christmas but I'm not sure I'll be using a torque wrench soon, but I do have the center position torx style valve cover bolts. The problem is, I'd consider $150 repair fee to just replace the valve cover gaskets and the intakes, if I can use mine. The offer is from a co-worker who said he may consider $130 to do it. My mechanic on the other hand says a full set, if replacing one, might as well do all of them (head gaskets as well), but they est. $1000 to do this job. My leak is on the top end but he says to have the compression checked is likely a must and requires I remove the heads and bring to a shop.
Any confirmation on what I should do? I just don't have the money to do $300+ repair bills
BILL

Snag a manual. Helms are the best, cost ~$80 new but periodically pop up on eBay for cheap. After that, Chiltons or Haynes are better than nothing and are available at most book stores.

If you want to do a compression test, get a compression gauge, $30 or so at parts stores or Sears. It threads into a spark plug hole, you crank the engine a few times, and you read what the gauge shows while cranking. Repeat for the other 7 cylinders.

Can't gauge your co-worker's mechanical skill from here, or tell where the oil leak is, so it's tough to say what you should do.

The coworker is Spanish too, so I was leery of his ability, but people say he knows what he's doing. Anyway, the guage test sounds like it requires two people, and I'm a bit surprised the engine would start w/o one of the spark plugs. The types of repair I did on my own in the past are simple screwdriver/crescent wrench stuff...Nothing too involved. It may have been at one point I had addressed the spark plugs and wires themselves, but the car still runs and starts fine (now with new fuel pump) so I haven't bothered to consider replacing those. Due to the cost differences, so far, I'm inclined to replace the gaskets I've bought thus far, possible steam clean too and then see where I stand

Another buddy at work who is not Spanish recommends doing all the gaskets as my mechanic does... Would intail checking the heads and compression.
Billl