Took my car in again. (Last week i had the coolant flushed). I had them check a small oil leak this time. The leak wasn't on the ground but when i got under the car i could tell something was leaking. They said both valve covers and the intake manifold are leaking. There estimate was $825 to fix. AND I was just about to order a DP, PCM, and 180 t-stat so i would have them by this weekend. Now what should i do? Is it the right price and it isn't a big leak but what damage could it do?

Valve covers easily (well a little time and elbow grease) you can do, but won't hurt anything. The intake man. I don't know. I wouldn't spend the money, $825. Thats weird, cause I have an 02 also, I don't have those problems. Check this post out: LIM

Well as far as damaging the engine the leak won't as long as you keep putting oil in. As far as the price it all for labor, you have to take the top part of the engine off, blower, lim and both covers, but I'm thinking it should be around 500 not 825. The thing is before you modd all maintance should be done and taken care of, along with makeing sue you car is in good working order. YOu can also save yourself some money and do it yourself. Gaskets will cost you about $100, and all you need is a good set of tools.

honestly, it will be kinda labor intensive, but not difficult. everything is pretty straight foward with the top-end of the motor. Just start slow with the intake, t-b, etc and soon you will find yourself down to the LIM

No its acctually very easy to do, gaskets are NOT CHEAP!!!!! For mine when i was working on it, $52 for lower intake gasket, $63 for upper intake, $38 for valve covers, then the O-Rings for the fuel rail when you pull that off, other then that, it looks harder then it really is! I say do the labor yourself, you will know your car that much more, and you will save tons of money for your mods!

Little over 500 dollars is good but 825, maybe check around different shops a little more.

Yep, I would do the work yourself and learn about your car. Valve cover gaskets are $40, the LIM gasket is $40, Supercharger gasket is $10.

You'll also need to buy some gray "gasket maker" to seal where the LIM gaskets meet.

So for under a hundred dollars and I'd estimate 3-4 hrs of work, you could be on your way. And you'll learn a ton.

It's not too bad, just a lot of crap to take off. Just keep it in order and put it back where it belongs. I haven't put mine back together, but I've already tore it apart.

If you're going to do it yourself, and you have never done it before, I would set aside a day. Get a book that shows you the torque specs, and pattern for bolting the manifold and SC back down, not only will it show you those important features, but it will provide a good referrence for this and other projects.
On top of the typical gaskets needed for the job, changing the o-rings on the injectors wouldn't be a bad idea, and you will want to be prepared to change both coolant ells on the alternator bracket. You will loose a bit of coolant so have a gallon available. As mentioned before, gasket maker will be necessary for the LIM install. I use Black.
Removing the fuel lines from the rails may not be necessary, but it's something that I do, and requires a tool that can be bought at any auto parts store.
A torque wrench will be necessary if you want to be precise.

Rather than pay someone $825 to do your work you could install a SS intercooler and show some gains for your money, one thing for any newby to buy when attempting engine work is a decent shop manual it will pay for itself many times over .Chico.

I have very limited tools. I am going to try and tackle the valve covers if i can get my hands on a service manual. Anyone around here have one i could borrow? I'll check Ebay and other resources.

So i need new gaskets and a gasket sealer?
What tools am i going to need? (I could borrow, rent, or buy them)

Once i do the valve covers i will see what it is going to take to do the intake manifold and how much it would cost to get that job done. But i will do one job at a time.

It could be a good learner experience but i truly am just trying to learn based on this forum.

Also, Do i have to have an 02 service manual?

Nahh.... Haynes is a pretty good referrence.

No gasket maker needed for the valve covers. But I usually apply a little bit in several spots and let it set for a while. This helps keep the gasket in the groove as you drop the cover into place.
A good socket set, and a wrench to take the tension off the belts should get you by.
Torque wrenches should be on your list of tools to have if you want to delve farther into the DIY world.

Would a 98 service manual work?

02GTPRD, check your local library as well to see if they might have a Chilton's that you can just check out or maybe make copies of the pages that you need. Too bad you're not closer, I have lots of tools and it is getting to be nice here in Michigan. Wrench turnin weather finally!