Changing timing chain 1997 4.6l. Any cues?

[Eaulive]

Hello all.
I live in the Dominican Republic and good mechanics are a rare occurence, usually the guy who owns the shop is good but his employees are breaking more stuff than they fix.

I and some mechanics that I trust identified the loud clacking and pinging noise I have as being the timing chain. It basically sounds like a diesel engine.
I ordered the complete kit for my truck, two chains, two cam sprocket, a dual crank sprocket, hydraulic tensionners, guides, etc. It came in a kit. I also purchased the gasket kit to finish the job.

My question is: Can I do this myself? I understand about mechanics and I do most of the time the troubleshooting by myself, I also do more than minors mechanical jobs, mostly brakes, suspension, steering and electronics myself. I have plenty of tools.

Do I need special tools? Pullers for the gears? Clearance guages? Is it something that you remove and put back easily? Is the procedure for properly install the gears to have correct timing complicated? Are the marks easy to spot?

Basically I need to know if there's anything that could give me a bad surprise, an innaccesible nut that needs a special tool or a retainer that needs voodoo praying to put back in place.

It seems to me like a straight forward job, remove the front end of the engine, maybe even the radiator I don't know. I'm not scared of this but I want to make sure about the tools.

If anybody has cues, please show yourself. I'm trying to avoid mechanics, not for the cost, but for the future problems.
They will probably do the timing chain job ok, but they're the kind that are liable to forget to tighten the bolts on the radiator fan so it'll fly through the radiator 3 weeks later
(it really happened on my wife's Grand Cherokee after they changed the water pump)

[ReAX]

I haven't tried it yet, but I have read several procedures and it seems easy enough. I don't think there was anything special. Just take your time and if possible have another vehicle available to visit your mechanic buddy so you can barrow any tools you can't finish without.

[kaboom10]

Get a comprehensive repair manual like the dealers use. They get them from Helm Inc. in Highland Park, MI. That's a city within the city of detroit. The firsttime we did it it was a prototype engine with no instructions. Just take your time and locate every bolt. It is a lot more to tackle than a push rod motor. One of the tricky parts is getting the hydraulic chain tensioners to go back in since it has a ratchet to over come. Don't worry about them when you put them back on since oil pressure will adjust them. Mark all gears and chains with reference marks like paint. They don't take kindly to being hit with a stamp. I believe you may have to loosen the front pan bolts so the cover goes back on without leaking. It's been 20 years since we did this but if a couple of mechanics like us can do it without instructions you should be able to do it.