Valve Spring Removal

I have a 92 XJ and I am trying to remove the valve springs, I have purchased the spring sompressing tool to remove the key but it is not coming out. How do I remove those dang springs.

Also along the same lines once I have that piece removed that houses all the rocker arms, and valves can I clean that without removing the valves? or should I pull all parts off of it before I clean it?

This Jeep has 200k on it and had gummy nasty buildup like I have never seen so I am stripping her down to the block and cleaning all the oil buildup out of it.

Any tips or suggestions for the best way to remove that grim?

Thanks in advance

OK I figured it out, but incase there are other blithering idiots like me :confused1 . I figured that once you have that Valve Head off that you need to place something underneath the head to make sure your valves are not moving when you compress the springs.

Now to whats the best way to remove years of oil buildup from your engine?