Well, STILL didn't work. The angle of the dangle just didn't quite fit. Before I broke out the hammer and anvil to make it fit, I gave it a shot with the crow's foot 13mm that came with the kit and allowed a slightly less impossible angle and... WOOHOO!!! broke the motherf$#@$3r loose!!!! Managed to work it the rest of the way out with an angled ratchet wrench from an extremely uncomfortable position balanced with my knees on the radiator, chest on a 2x4 spread across the engine bay and forehead on the windshield. Did I mention a thunderstorm rolled in and it started raining right as I broke it loose?

Now, I'm all set to shove this bolt up the bunghole of whatever engineer designed that part of the engine bay. I'm an engineer myself- there's no excuse for bad design like this, not for a bolt that requires such force to break loose.

 

Amazing how such a tiny bit of damage can kill an engine

 

^5! Glad you got it out.

 

I'm well on my way towards reassembly now. I'm rather worried about valve lash. What, exactly, should I be checking for with valve lash? Being able to move the lifter rod up and down, or being able to rock the rocker arm back and force? I *thought* I had it perfect, but then put the lower exhaust manifold on and noticed I still have some movement in some of the rocker arms, and the rocker arm nuts aren't as even as I remembered them being when I took them off...

What's the best way to get the old cork gasket out of the valve covers?

Edit: nevermind on both counts. If the lash is wrong, too late to worry about it now! We got the old cork gasket out with a combination of chisel and dremel with a floppy sanding head.