you say you dont have to discharge ac . im wondering if you put the type heatercore in with the kind of pipes that swivel or rigid / unmovable type pipes ? im doing mine and would prefer using rigid piped type if i dont have to mess around with ac

 

When I did mine, I didn't discharge the AC, I just removed it from the firewall so I could get to the screws holding the dashboard in. You also have to remove the computer from the corner of the firewall, there are screws behind that too. Sounds scaryer than it is but its not. Another suggestion, get the pipes that swivel. I was reluctant to use them thinking they would leak, but they don't. Also if you don't use the swivel type, I don't think you'll be able to get the core in without removing the entire dash as well as the HVAC duct work. I just removed my dash enough so I could pull it away and let it fall to get behind it. Be carefull not to pinch any vaccum hoses when you reassemble the dash because it will screw up your HVAC. I cracked the tiny vaccum hose going through the firewall on the engine side when I removed the ac compresser. Didn't realize it. after everything was done I realized the duct selector wasn't working. It was only blowing in the defrost position. I found the crack, fixed it and everything works fine now. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

 

I didn't drain my A/C system and used an OE style core with rigid pipes. It's a royal PITA to do it that way, but it can be done.

 

Without removing the hvac box, there will be all kinds of crap in there. And the evap core will soon be next. It's not as bad a job everyone makes it out to be.

 

I badly need to do this, but I am afraid my cracked dash will end up in 1000 more pieces if I do.

 

If it's already cracked who cares? Save some money and get the dash top and change it when you do the cores.

 

I did mine this past weekend, it wasnt so bad. I also had to repair some vacuum hoses I snapped in the process.