Can't seem to remove old shift lever oil seal, and boy do I feel dumb Options

[ambergris]

I just got my introduction post done, and now I feel like I have a rather silly question. Definitely not technical, more like "wtf am I doing wrong here?"
Basically, when replacing my shift bushings I noticed some oil collecting in the black plastic shift selector rod cover. Well what do you know, but Pelican has a tech article that seems to cover this exact problem. So I bought new oil seals, removed the selector mechanism, and got the selector shaft out.
Now I'm trying to remove the old seal, and it's not budging. I've tried using a flathead screwdriver to pry it out, and I've tried a pair of pliers to pull it out, and so far I don't think it's moved one bit. Although I have chewed up the old seal pretty well...
Is there something obvious I'm missing, or is this just 30 years of crap that I have to fight through?

[ambergris]

Woo hoo! Thanks to Red-Beard and Bjorn, as I used a combo of both your suggestions. I hope I didn't warp anything with the heat, or damage the housing too much. I used a screwdriver and hammer, and aimed the screwdriver flathead on the edge of the seal near the housing, pointing inwards towards the center of the seal. After banging on the seal (and hopefully not too much on the housing) I thought I saw that I had gotten the seal a little bit away from the edge of the housing. I then used a kitchen butane torch (used for creme brule usually) and applied heat to the housing around the seal. After all that, I tried my big-ass flathead screwdriver again as a pry-bar and managed to pop the damn seal out.

Thanks again to you guys. Hopefully I'll have the shift linkage re-assembled this afternoon!

Later,
Max