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So, I stuck my head under the hood last week b/c my upper heat shield on my exhaust manifold was rattling.  To my dismay half of my manifold nuts were missing and there was oil all over the side and bottom of my engine!

"Holy crap!" says I.  I found that the oil pressure sending unit was really loose.  I tightened it and the oil leak problem was solved.  Then I bought some nuts with keepers and tried torquing the manifold back on.  Of course two studs pull right out.  $140 later my car is back from the machine shop with the manifold barely torqued down.  Currently, I need to give everything a once over to make sure all is tight.

So, what is causing the vibrations that is making everything loose?

I suspect engine mounts.  What do you guys think?

If you do not have a shake when driving it then you can rule out the driveline system.

Check the mounts and the crankshaft pulley/balancer and rest of the drive belt system as an out of whack part there can cause a good vibration.

doc hit the nail on the hammer, the harmonic balancer may need replacement, thinks I

What would make my harmonic balancer act up?  I wouldn't think it to be a part that would wear out.  BTW, I don't have any vibrations while driving; in fact, I haven't noticed the vibrations at all (from inside the car).  However, when I place my hand on top of the engine I can fell a definite vibration.  Also, I don't notice and banging or bumping when I shift.  So, I am assuming the harmonic balancer needs to be replaced.

Sounds likely.  Most have a rubber ring that can get old and then they do not work right because it won't flex.  Seems that iif it was an internal problem you would hear it or the engine would just die.  Check the other pulleys too tho just to be sure.  A dbad ding can casue a vibration from those as well.