Well, the heat shields stayed off, the only one still on is the manifold heat shield. I unplugged the front o2 sensor from on top of the valve cover, then took that out on the bench. I just trimmed some of the heat shield off where there is just a hole for the o2 sensor and made it a notch so if I ever do put the shield back on I don't have to remove the o2.
The o2 sensor was an absolute twat to get out also. Used a TON of PB blaster, heat, etc and it still did not want to come out. The vice I had it in was welded to the table it was on and I actually broke the welds before the o2 came out! Got the vice clamped back down, got 2 people to hold onto it while another cranked and it finally came out. I actually had to un-pin the connector on it so we could slide a box end wrench over the wire to get on there, the o2 socket I was using was looking like it was going to break. So other than the hour spent on that, it went decently smooth
