E7TE spring problem

I am having one heck of a time getting the keepers to release on my heads. Heads are out of the car. Using a " finger clamp" with the top compressor spinner but as much as I compress spring , keepers will NOT release????

A hammer is your friend...... tap on the retainers before compressing springs...... and some times you also need to tap them while compressed..... careful though.

Originally Posted by Joel50

A hammer is your friend...... tap on the retainers before compressing springs...... and some times you also need to tap them while compressed..... careful though.

Yep, Compressed springs today and gave a light tap with the right size socket over the inner retainer and keepers pop right out. Exhast valves don`t have that problem as bad. Compress spring and then tap top of spring and keepers pop right out. Both valve trains took about an hour . Question: I started with the thermactor bumps so I could get use to the grinder, but when I grind them flush with the contour of the roof the thermactor holes become larger or elongated , if you will. Will this hurt anything????