I've got the intake, throttle body, etc. removed, plus the 8 bolts that hold the valve cover itself. However, the cover will not budge with hands-only force (no hammer/chisel ). Any tips on removing the cover without potentially damaging/warping it?

 

Get a plastic hammer and bang it around the edges. It's probably just stuck on the gasket or silicon. You can also try carefully cutting around the seal with an Exacto knife. Don't try prying it by sticking a screwdriver in the seal, you will probably just bend the flange and make it leak later.

 

Cool, finally got it off!

I can only work on it weekends nowadays...

 

What method did you use to get it off? If I ever need to do this in the future it would be good to know.

 

There are a few tabs extruding from the edge of the cover. One of these is next to the power steering pump bracket. I was able to use that as leverage and gently pry off the cover.