Are there any special tools, Pontiac specific things I need to be aware of before attempting to replace my timing chain in an Autozone parking lot? thanks in advance,

First off why in a parking lot?
Your going to need an impact gun to remove that balancer bolt or at least someone to hold the engine from spinning over.

Tow it home. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

You do realize that Pontiac motors are more like Ford 351 Clevelands than Chevy's regarding timing covers, right?

You have to remove the water pump and timing cover. Thus you are draining the coolant system. Thus the fan, pullys, fan belts, and front engine accessories like alternator, power steering and A/C have to come off.

In order to remove the timing cover - you have to remove the harmonic balancer. Thus you need a balancer puller.

So true, your looking at a 5-6 hour job for the normal person.
Pontiac balancers are slip fit and usually slide off rather easy unless there is a buildup of grease or rust. But helps to have a puller if needed.
Remember to put your engine at top dead center on #1 and make sure the dots line up at the 12 o'clock position on both timing gears

Ok, well I'm poor. I don't have a garage. I live in BMWland and BMWpeople made it illegal to work on your car on the street. My apt manager is also not a fan. So I go to autozone to work on my car.
Is there a special balancer puller? Or will a generic one do?
I figure I can use the billybob method of wedging the breaker bar and using the starter to break the balancer bolt, not really sure how I would torque it back to 160 without someone holding the flexplate. Or I might go buy a cordless craftsman impact gun like this one
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00917339000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

So you live in LA?

I live behind the Orange Curtain

That sucks dude. Try and find a friends house to do the repairs at. At least if you don't get it done you can leave it overnight.

I would say come up LA way, but it's probably not convenient.

I just called City Hall and talked to some municipal code guy, and he tells me it's still illegal to repair my car in AZ's parking lot. 1000 dollar fine he says. Since EVERYTHING is illegal in Cal I might as well leave. Guess I'll do the timing chain when I get to Oregon. Thanks for the advice guys

Hey if your really in a bind I don't mind helping you wrench. Funny things is I just learned it's totally legal to have hens in LA, just no roosters. So long garden slugs.

I was born in Hollywood and raised in the SF Valley. I left in '86 and have not looked back. The general So Cal population thinks the place is the center of the Universe. NOT!

and that's exactly why this state is bankrupt...because we employ pencil pusher to monitor things like that...it's private friggin' property, if autozone don't care, i'd do it there.

Yeah SoCal can be pretty pretentious. I'm not in the film or advertising industry so I get a lot of weird looks. This can be exasperated by seafoaming your MINI and producing a robust cloud of gunk while they are filming a Vans commercial down the street! But besides all the pork pie hats, Buddy Holly frames, and ironic mustachioed DB's there are quite a bit of cool people in California (except for Prius drivers). I live in Venice and work near San Pedro and both have a good blue collar feel. I would say 90% of my friends are transplants from the east coast, midwest, or Europe. I've actually met some good people through rec sports and my MINI club. The car culture here is AMAZING!! You can go racing on the weekends at a variety of tracks (I would love to hit Laguna Seca), carve canyons up from the Pacific to the Valley, and see cars that have long since rusted away in other regions. Just last night I was leaving the gym and noticed a MINI GP (it's like the most souped up MINI you can get from the factory). I started chatting with the guy (from England) and it turns out he is one of the big shots in the MINI club. Next thing I know he's offering me a magna flow exhaust system, coil over suspension, and you name it.

The law probably started because people park a car and say they are "working on it" and then 5 weeks later you still have some jalopy parked in front of your house filled with In-Out wrappers, with transients living in it. They just passed a law here that states you need a permit to park from 2-6am. It was to stop all the RV people from filling up the streets. It sucks for them, but it's nice to be able to park in front of my house without a mobile meth lab parked there or finding that someone emptied their holding tank in the street. There were also some issues here with people just changing their oil over the sewer grates that drain right to the ocean. Not too smart.

You don't have a driveway or car-port? At least AutoZone lets you borrow tools and in OC you probably have less homeless crack heads wandering around. I literally saw a dude that could have been off of the living dead set. I almost just hit him with my car because I thought he was a walker. In retrospect it was probably jaundice from hepatitis. You could also just risk it. I'm not sure if you know how much the fine is or if you have been asked before not to wrench in front of your house, but sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.