She is a second generation (91 i think) Camry DX with four cylinders.
How do i remove her spark plugs and pieces of melted cable left from the plug cables?

this machine has had issues the entire time we've owned her (about 8 months now)
we've had trouble with the electrical system from the get go.. she used to eat batteries overnight until we got her a deepcycle starting battery (lead sulfide not gel or AGM). We only did this after a lot of research to make sure we COULD. her master control switch has never worked so her windows are always down. her starter was also acting cranky (no pun intended) so we replaced it.

thinking most of the issues were managed.. i decide to make a 60 mile round trip to help a friend out. i expected the camry to overheat a bit since it has a history of it. i replaced the coolant with some fresher 50/50. i added water when i started smelling the sweet steam. i lost my way and had to do some looking around to find out where i was.. she stopped two more times but i just let her cool normally.
after about two hours of rest (while i was helping out my friend) i headed home. i was optimistic as it was a cool night. about 10 miles out i stopped because this time steam was visible from the engine compartment. i let her cool, added water and noticed the radiator cap's seal was looking a bit crispy.. and noted to replace it ASAP. i got another 5 miles down the road and she stopped again, this time instead of steam (the temp was normal) was smoke. i looked under the hood and something was glowing. fearing the worst i got a ride home and began to attack any info i could find to hunt down what had happened and what could fix it.

when all was said and done it turned out her shift cable had welded itself to the exhaust pipe (and was the source of the glowing). the heat stress has destroyed her spark plug cables and distributor/rotor assembly. the distributor and rotor are both replaced but the plug cables refused to come out properly. i have new cables to install but i must remove the remaining cable material and i'm replacing her spark plugs as well. replacing the plugs and cables is my top priority but if anyone else has an idea as to what has been causing her overheating (which was a problem the previous owner had as well) and what else i might want to check for heat damage.. i'd greatly appreciate it.

Man, have you had problems! OK, you need to attack them one at a time or you'll never get things right. Before you begin, pick up a service/repair manual. They're avaliable in most auto parts stores for around $20. First, the plug wires. They're shot, so use a scraper, a pointed screwdriver, diagonal cutters, needle-nose pliers, even a smalll chisel to get in there to clean out the wires enough to grab the plugs with a socket. Replace the works. Messy and time-consuming, but do-able. The overheating can be caused by a number of things. First change the thermostat. it's not worth the effort to bother checking it in a pot of boiling water; just replace it. Then, check that the cooling fan kicks on. Then fill the radiator with coolant, not just water. Check the manual for the correct method, including opening the air gap plug found on many engines. (I don't remember if yours has one or not - check the manual.) Leave the cap off. Then start the engine and let it warm up. The coolant level should drop. Fill as needed. Check if any bubbles are pushing coolant out the radiator opening. if so, you've probably got a blown head gasket which is letting exhaust gasses get into your cooling system, causing the overheating. My GUESS is that this is your problem. Before tearing the engine apart, go to a radiator shop. They has a gauge to test for carbon monoxide in the coolant - a sure tip-off of head gasket problems. If it's the head gasket, you'll need to pull it all apart, check the head for flatness, have it milled if necessary, replace the gasket, and put it all back together. Once that's done, go over every system "with a fine-toothed comb" as explained in the manual. This is what I would do if it were my car. Good luck, and post what you find. Hy

you got it, thanks a million mate.

the heads and valves are dead, we replaced the timing belt and retuned it. it cranks but refuses to start.