I went to remove the throttle body to replace the heater plate and the body seems to be stuck in place. I have all four bolts off and tried "rapping" on it with a rubber mallet. I hestitate to strike it too hard or with any hard object like a hammer.

I searched the previous threads and can't seem to find any info that refers to this as a normal problem. Do you think a little heat with a heat gun would help?

Any suggestions or do I just rear back and let it have it? I certainly don't want to damage it. Thanks in advance.

 

No don't do that.

You may need to remove the whole intake manifold.
Hopefully not - but don't whack on aluminum.

To remove the intake manifold there are 6 bolts, not 4.
Two at front and back too.