can remove water pump on 97 v6

[ncdevilblues]

i am trying to replace the water pump in my 97 thunderbird v6 but have hit a roadblock. I removed all nuts and bolts except two that are located next to the lower hose and power steering. The nuts are on a couple studs that are being blocked by a metal plate connected behind the p/s pulley. Can anyone give me an idea how to remove the two nuts that are being obstructed by the metal plate or how to remove the plate(preferably without dismantling p/s and alt)?