You don`t want to be lifting the front end by the headers, if you use a jack lift from the engine sump.

 

The sump, or oil pan as I like to still call it, is cast aluminum. I wouldn't lift it there either. The one rule that's been drilled into me since I was a kid is "use the right tool for the job." Congrats on your decision to get the stands -- you'll find that having them will make a lot of jobs easier.