UPDATE: I started pulling everything out and took about 7 to 8 hours to remove everything. With many weak moments where I regretted starting this project. There are only a few things different from 1999 4x2. The crank pulley is two piece just as in the manual. I used impact gun to remove the 4 13 mm pulley bolts. After pulling the pulley out, I put those bolts back almost all the way in on the harmonic balancer. then used a long socket set and very long fat screw driver (worth the investment from your local Harbor Freight store) and the pulley bolt was out after a little resistance. Please note that the 1997 model has no holes in the pulley, so you cannot jam anything through the holes for leverage. I have read other people have used torque converter bolts to lock the engine but I was working alone so could not do that. I had gear pulley removal tool which I used to pull the HB out.

I couldn't take the water pump studs out so I had to remove one of the belt pulleys on the left side near the alternator (the one which is used to put the belt on) and the cover came out straight.

I cleaned everything last night, replaced the new timing cover front seal, and now today hopefully, I will put everything back. The black RTV label says it takes about an hour to cure.
My main concern is putting the harmonic balancer back since it is so tight fit to began with. Cannot use hammer so I went and got a longer bolt which will be used to push it back,

Many thanks to Fairlaner who guided me thus far.

Glad you got it all apart ... going back together is much easier.

OK: got it back together. Learned a couple of new things along the way. Good experience, lots of backache and busted knuckles and few new tools in my collection. Overall fun experience, however at times, it didn't appear that way.

That pretty much sums up my experience when I did the repair ...