So my radiator starting leaking, and my valve cover gasket needed replacing, so one thing let to another. I'm doing lots of stuff (water pump, belts, thermostat, heater valve, hoses, etc.) but I thought I'd post some pics and a few lessons-learned.
Here is the engine before starting any work. Notice the nice grease all down the front of it.
I pulled off the air intake, and then the valve cover, which looked like this. I thought it looked awful good for 154K miles.
My valve cover seal was hard and brittle, and had cracked in a few places. Hence the leaks. And then there were those pesky *#$ing spark plug seals, which looked like this:
I had NO ffing idea on how to get those things out. They were brittle, and hard as a rock. So I went and sat down, grabbed an iced tea, and did a little reading on ih8Mud. Upon discovering that there was a metal ring on the outside end of the seal, I undertook a method that is certainly not approved, but which worked. I took my old five-in-one painting tool, which has a nice worn and thin point on one side, and gently tapped it between the seal and the cover, being careful not to damage the aluminum. After bending the seal inward a bit, I was able to put a small screwdriver in the gap, bend the seal even more to the inside, and then pull it out with needle nose pliers.
Then because I'm anal retentive, I cleaned the whole thing with superfine steel wool and Gunk cleaner, and then washed it off under high pressure water hose to get the tiny steel fibers out. When I reseated the seals, I used a little bit of the silver non-seize on the outside of the ring. Not sure if that's kosher or not, but I did it. Looks pretty now!
Here is the engine before starting any work. Notice the nice grease all down the front of it.
I pulled off the air intake, and then the valve cover, which looked like this. I thought it looked awful good for 154K miles.
My valve cover seal was hard and brittle, and had cracked in a few places. Hence the leaks. And then there were those pesky *#$ing spark plug seals, which looked like this:
I had NO ffing idea on how to get those things out. They were brittle, and hard as a rock. So I went and sat down, grabbed an iced tea, and did a little reading on ih8Mud. Upon discovering that there was a metal ring on the outside end of the seal, I undertook a method that is certainly not approved, but which worked. I took my old five-in-one painting tool, which has a nice worn and thin point on one side, and gently tapped it between the seal and the cover, being careful not to damage the aluminum. After bending the seal inward a bit, I was able to put a small screwdriver in the gap, bend the seal even more to the inside, and then pull it out with needle nose pliers.
Then because I'm anal retentive, I cleaned the whole thing with superfine steel wool and Gunk cleaner, and then washed it off under high pressure water hose to get the tiny steel fibers out. When I reseated the seals, I used a little bit of the silver non-seize on the outside of the ring. Not sure if that's kosher or not, but I did it. Looks pretty now!
Now would be a good time since my intake is taken apart 
