raid 1 removal but keeping whats on it



As above...copy the data to a different physical drive.
Give it the same drive letter as the RAID 1 had.

Anything else, while theoretically possible, may lead to complete and utter fail.
 


i only have an external drive big enough to take it so would have to do that then disable the raid
 


And if you'd started a few hours ago, you'd be mostly done by now.