Can leave the head in place if you are careful and support the front of the headgasket when the timing cover is removed. Ive only heard of one person needing a puller to get the crank pulley off, mine have always slid off with little force exerted.
As far as timing kits go, I can tell you right now that almost all of them out there are identical. Steel guide kits are hard to tell apart once out of the packaging. Same goes for the stock nylon rail kits. I run the enginebldr kit with nylon rails (personal reasons). When I picked up the test motor from him, he ran back into the shop to grab the right kit because he forgot and added a steel rail jobber and remembered just as I was leaving. The price difference you see is simply a markup. Salaries and Known names command higher prices. But ask yourself this....why would LCEngineering order a kit from a small outfit that happens to do business on EBAY? Maybe they see a way to improve on what they currently provide? I wont go into that one any further. DOAs kit...if Tim still provides the kit he did a year ago, is OSK labeled parts and old style 22R steel rails that can be bought from Toyota. Just a matter of enlarging the mounting holes to make them work on the laser blocks of 85 and up. The OSK quality is the same wether its purchased from Tim or from JohnsForiegnEngines or anywhere else. Engnbldr's kit carries his 3 year who-cares-how many miles warranty and is good for full replacement in the event of failure....ask LCE and DOA what their warranty is. Its all comes down to the consumer and how deep their pockets are in my opinion. I do my business with EB (Engnbldr) solely because I have yet to have a part fail and we have developed a bit of a friendship off of doing business. Knowledge and 40 years experience counts for alot in my book. Plus he has the ability to slap a guy upside the head if he's doing things wrong or dragging his feet.....all through a computer screen or phone line! lol
~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

**PS get ahold of a manual, Haynes works fine, and do it yourself. There is also a write up on Timing Chain R&R here in the maintanance or tech section. The only part of this project that is critical is having the crank and cam in proper position when installing the chain. And theres marks to indicate postion stamped into the gears for ya.