Alright,
Here’s my method:
On Monday I’m having the valve adjustment down the street. I feel like that process will give my guy a chance to sort of rate the engine’s health and all its wear and tear details. I will ask him to do so.
I have my other engine which has 75K fewer miles on it and also has the fresh turbo and fresh engine mounts and shocks.
If during the valve adjustment my guy says something looks pending end of quality of performance, or worse, then at that point I have greater decisions to make anyways. And perhaps bringing in the other engine will be a good idea regardless of this leaking oil cooler line.
I have an informal car gig friend in town who does engine swaps regularly and knows these cars well.
Looking at the pricing of the two lines and knowing a little about the work behind it, and the fact that there is some overlap of related projects... since apparently I have to lift the engine and engine mounts as well? Giving me access to engine mounts?.. I think I’ll wait until the valve adjustment goes down Monday to determine my fates. I will of course talk about the cooler line project with the shop as well. Sounds expensive to me right now.
And for the time being, Ive learned that if i always have my eye on the oil pressure gauge that I can monitor the situation and pull over if I ever see the gauge start to dip. I need to do some things involving shirt drives under 10 minutes each, between now and Monday. The consequences of not doing these things will be rougher than just a messed up car situation.
Coincidentally I have always had my eyes glued to the oil pressure gauge just out of pure worry that I’m burning through oil and my engine was going to suddenly sieze up. So I’m completely in the habit already. And just to announce.. I’ve been hardly going through oil at all. It’s remarkable. It was at the top line for several months and now is just barely under.. To me that seems different than previous parts-vehicle. I remember refilling regularly. This is why I’m attentive to gauge now.
Anyways, I’m sure this isn’t so smart sounding but I need to keep a balance..

Also, I contacted the previous owner just now and here’s what he said..

“The lines are old dried and cracked, which is common. They’re sealed with silicone and silicone tape. They should be OK but need to be replaced. Replacements are about $80. It’s a bit of a hassle because you have to undo engine mounts and jack up engine to gain access in the rear. Something to be careful of is that the unions are alloy, screwing into alloy, so have a tendency to strip out, as they weld themselves in over time. Plenty of releasing oil! The other option is to cut the high pressure fittings and remove the lines from the metal ends, leaving them in the block or filter housing, and the oil cooler in the front, replace with high pressure hydraulic lines with 2 clamps both ends. The lines should be the rubber type, not the metalized kind as they need to be clamped. I’s a metric sized hose, not inches, I seem to remember 15mm. I found posts on line, people have found this method effective.”