hey , im currently contemplating on changing the front crank seal and timing cover gasket on my EA atm , i was just curious how hard is it to do the timing cover ?

is it as simple as removal of the water pump , p.s pump , and harmonic balancer then a few bolts holding it in?

ive just got a slight oil leak i never need to refill much if any oil probably half a litre in 5K km or even less

but i just am scared of not passing RWC in the next to near future

i believe the major leak is from the front main seal but is it worth doing the timming cover while the balancer is off ?

if it ant leekin dont,just change the seal-balancer may be grooved from the seal

Gotta pull the head or drop the sumP for the timing case gasket. Is it the "c" gasket between the head and case or the gasket between timing case and block?
Either way for rego pourposes if the leaks as slow as you say just degrease it and get all the oil off before you go for the check. It's all i do, I've got a slight leak from the C gasket.
Harmo seal can be a pain without the right tools

timing case and block , but dam i never knew there were 2 of them

ehh think il wait it out and pull the block out and replace all the gaskets in a few years

Why not buy a later model engine (4.0L), fix that up and replace it when the 3.9L dies? Will last longer than fixing up leaks on the 3.9L.