Removal Of Exhaust Valve Guides, F134

Hello jeepers;
I'll keep this short. I'm replacing my exhaust valve guides because they were never installed correctly in the first place....about 1/2" below the deck...1/2 too short!. They are worn out of spec. TM says to drive them out (downwards), however, I think they didn't take into account 68 years of heating, cooling and neglect, not to mention incorrect installation. This would work per the TM, however the cam is still in the block along with the tappets. I've successfully driven # 4 down with a 3/8 valve guide driver to within 1/3" of the tappet...not for the faint of heart BTW. Any conventional, or non-conventional wisdom how to cut this guide so I can finish driving it out? Whizz wheel will not fit and frankly, I'm not a fan of getting metal shavings all over the place anyway. You can see that I'm committed here! As usual, I appreciate expertise which exceeds mine.

I've read that there are some folks who pulled them rather than driving them. I went the route that I did because I didn't want to risk damaging the deck. Open to ideas about 1,2 and 3. Pete

 

Oxy-acetylene torch or plasma cutter.

Carbide blade in a sawzall.

Diamond blade in an oscillating tool.

But surely you could work up a threaded puller on top of the deck, through a large plate to protect the deck?

 

No oxy, so I'll go for plasma 'cause that's what I have. Again, not a fan of metal shavings flying all over the place. Thanks again Pete! I heard there's still folks over there without power...?

 

Is there room to take the adjuster off the tappet? Is the cam turned away?

 

Yup, the cam lobes are turned all the way down....I'll cut with the plasma...Thank you all.

 

No guarantees...

One advantage of oxy-A is that it won't cut other nearby metal if it's not red-hot, but plasma can. OTH, plasma will do it without a lot of heat and fire in the first place.

AFIK, most everyone round here has power back now. Hopkinton got the worst of it, so I hear. Lots of down trees to clean up.

 

There's about a 1/2" between the guide and block. It will be fine.

 

Its been 30+ years since I’ve pulled exhaust guides out of an F-Head, but I wasn’t sure if it could be done with the cam/lifters in place. I took a tap (3/8” ?) and cut threads in the guide and use a bolt over a big socket/washer to pull the guides UP out of the block.
-Donny