I removed the 8 nuts, the 2 bolts, the cams, and there is nothing else I can see in the way. ive been pulling at it and hitting it with a hammer for a few hours now. head has started to wiggle a little bit but still absolutely no pull on it. Has arp studs if that makes a difference.

 

intake manifold brace? also there should be 10 nuts with ARP's

 

I dont see anything near the intake manifold area like a brace. Where would the extra 2 nuts be?

 

There should be 10 headstuds under the cams. The brace is under the intake manifold and attaches to the back of the block.

 

all bolts are removed and the I'm is completely removed

 

 

is it possible that I have to remove the head studs? I cant see any other options.

 

thats's exactly what I was just going to say. sometimes the head binds up on the studs if you can't lift it absolutely perfectly straight up, so removing the studs eliminates that issue