The top one is the one with the ruined water pump threads. I was trying to knock out the seal from the dirty one, the same way I knocked out the cleaner (ruined) one. I knocked it out from behind and it came out no problem.
It looks as though the other one is different (smaller). I cleaned it up a little and it looks as though the timing cover on the dirty one is cast with a smaller hole. But I have 2 different covers in some solvent overnight, maybe they just need a little of the gunk to dissolve a bit.
I'll get back to whacking tomorrow.