I hope someone can help me with this. I'm disassembling my E7 heads and the intake valvespring retainer is stuck to the keepers. I've tried persuading it to come off with LIGHT hits with a hammer and no luck. I don't want to damage anything by hitting it harder. The exhaust retainers came off easy. By the way, the valvespring compressor I'm using is the type you can use with the heads on the car not the big "c" clamp type (Thanks for letting me borrow it Don. Bout time I used it huh!).
If the heads are off,support the valve on the bottom hit it harder.
If it's on the motor,hopefully with air in the cylinder,hit it harder.