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I’ve compressed the valve spring but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the keeper out. What am I missing?

Tap the valve from the top with a rubber mallet. It should slide down with the keepers. Remember to plug the oil holes with a rag or something.

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I already tried that and I can’t get the valve to come down. Guess I need to put my purse down and try again. 😂

Might make sure the slot or opening in the spring compressor is large enough that when the keepers are positioned on the valve stem they can still pass thru or that compressor is not positioned off center and one of the keepers is still locked and being caught on an edge of the slot.

Check the tool most are adjustable for size of valve spring diameter to allow the keepers to clear the the tool when used Both the ones I have are adjustable for different springs

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Thank you for everyone helping me! This is such a great community! I got it sorted out and am making progress. Here are a couple fun videos I threw together so far:

Part 1

Part 2

A handful of the valves are in pretty rough shape. Would the recommendation be to replace them, weld/grind the existing ones or just reinstall them, lap them and hope for the best?

I think it depends on who/what you have access to, but new valves are available from Max and Kanter.

I imagine that the seats under those valves need dressing up at a minimum as well.

The biggest issue you have with valve and seat work is the clearance between the valves and the hydraulic tappet has to be within a certain range. If you grind the valves or the valve seat down too much, the clearance can become too small. Basically, if you grind the valves you want to grind the ends to maintain clearance, and if you grind the seats you need to check the clearance as well.

There is a gage, J-4540, to measure the tappet clearance. I was able to get one of them from Pacfic Northwest Packards, it's not listed on their project page but they still had them last year.

Pacific Northwest Packards Projects and Info Page

Also you can get the tool from Max Merrit, look for J-4540R.

Max Merrit Gage J-4540R Hydraulic Tappet Clearance Gage

Also there are instructions in new lifters from Kanter that show how to take a lifter apart and turn it into a gage.

So two of the lifter cylinders do not want to come out of the tappets. Any ideas of doing this without tearing up the tappets?

If you can rotate the engine by bumping the starter, that may help.