it's out! man what a pain in the ass. the only saving grace of this job is that it's not going back in. i don't want to think about having to put that back together if you were doing the heater core.
in other news, i spy with my little eye...
the harder to get to EGR valve. though cursory attempt at getting at the bottom bolt didn't work so i'll have to take a closer look and see if it actually makes anything easier.