Thanks for the advice jyount. That last part, about breaking the plastic, is one reason I'm leaning toward the Dorman set. I read these are made of metal. Yeah, I hate buying all that foreign garbage too. They are just killing us, economically. I'm a little pee'd off at G.M. for this problem in the first place, so I probably won't go with their set. Probably Felpro or Dorman set.
Have you used that tool you mentioned for removing the pushrods, without removing the back valve cover? Will the valve cover gasket re-seal with this technique? It sure looks like a tempting time-saver.