ok, cant get my head off (only tried one head thus far). everything is unbolted that needs to be (and a few things that dont), it pulls up on the outside but the back wont budge. i would love to just hammer a screwdriver in the gap and pry it up, but its aluminum and will probably get all f'ed up. HELP ME!

 

safe to assume you have a fsm and you're aware what needs to be unbolted.

get a rubber/plastic mallet and start hammering it. DO NOT use a screwdriver to pry it off.

 

[flame retardent suit] no FSM yet, looked at a chiltons online and found they only require the 8 head bolts and it should just pull off, but i found 5 or 6 others on the outside of the head (holding the a/c compressor on and that bracket), but there is absolutely nothing left to unbolt unless its something completely out of sight.[/flame retardent suit]
i have a rubber mallet that i've been beating the head with, but nothing seems to work. i got the front of it up enough for the water jacket to empty all over my deck so i know i'm doing something. a friend of mine said to crank the engine over (using socket on the crank pulley) and the compression of the cylinders should force the head off.
i even tried fishing line to maybe peel the gasket off, but it just broke instead.
should i just keep pulling or am i going to break something important?

 

just triple check all the bolts are off..maybe something under a cam or something.
if you got it up far enough for a 1/4 inch gap you can carefully get a PRY BAR (NOT A SCREWDRIVER) in there and work it up. the engine turning deal prob won't work..you can't turn fast enough to get enough compression to pop it loose.

 

cams, bearing caps, lifters, sprockets are all out, i mean its just valves/keepers/springs still in that head. i'm confident i unbolted everything but i dont want to warp it by pulling on it too hard since its only coming up in the front.

 

start looking around the back to make sure you've got everything loose. are there any o-ring seals back there on anything? what about the guide pins? pull the head up enough so that you can see where it's still holding on, then search in that area.

 

well everyone's help was greatly appreciatd..however VERY useless.
let me tell you why.
everyone i've talked to, every manual i've looked at, every FAQ i've read has made no mention of another bolt holding the head down that i did not remove. it took myself and 2 of my friends pulling up on the head then hearing "RIIIIPPPPPP" and then it was free. i'm glad this is going to be searchable as i hope it doesnt happen to someone else(i was confident that it was the gasket holding the head down).
there is a bolt under the timing chain tensioner that holds the head to the T-chain cover. the cover on the head has to come off (bolts are too long to free the tensioner with the cover on), the tensioner has to come off, then the bolt has to come out. so now i need a new Tchain cover (the one just below the "front" cyl head). utterly ridiculous that there were no mentions of such a thing ANYWHERE. i suppose i deserve for not having an FSM YET, but considering how through i tried to be, i'm wondering if the FSM makes mention of it either. its like no one has ever taken apart a VE before.
thanks guys, i'm sure i'll be posting questions about more snags when reassembling the beast (with an FSM of course)

 

I think you should definitely invest in an FSM, it does show pics of things like this and all the bolts.

would this pic have helped?
http://www.cybrrpartspro.com/Chilton.../89613g76L.gif

that's from the online chiltons manual that is in the FAQ thread and might have saved you

 

yeh, it probably would have if i noticed that one screw.
haste makes waste, maybe i'll learn that.

 

hmmm.. I pretty much said to look for stuff like that in my last post. lift up and find where it's binding, then search that area. surely you would have found it had you been more patient.

 

ok how come your taking your engine apart?? did you do something bad to it?? or upgrading?

 

patience was never a strong point. i did end up looking under the part that did move, it was even all the way around on the back so i couldnt exactly tell. i thought i saw bolts, but after the head was off they ended up being the "guide pins" or whatever you wanna call them.

 

tranny died and i have low compression on the rear 3 cyls anyway, so i figured why not take it apart, have it all rebuilt and throw it back in. its ALOT more difficult and involved than it sounds so dont take it the wrong way.

 

Yup. No one ever looks at that post I have in the 3-gen stickies. Too bad I was around this weekend, I could have saved you alot of trouble. You probably forget the one little 10mm on the SIDE of the head also. I had a whole spare front timing cover assembly complete w/ chains and sprockets but someone just bought it.

 

i didnt miss anything that was in plain sight
any ideas on getting a new T-chain cover? courtesy quoted me $412, but thats a bit much in my opinion. think a junkyard would be willing to pull it for me?

 

I have one.
If I would have seen this post before I could have helped you.

I will get some pics tommarrow. email me for more info, etc.

MrGone