Any tips before I get rolling? The Haynes manual made it sound fairly easy, but once I started looking................
And, of course, the manual shows no photos for this job........and being basically an idiot...I'm just not sure how to begin.

 

These first generation cores are really simple...just take your time and use a jentle hand as not to break things. Here are a few tips to get you going....get a good flashlight, remove the radio trim plate, ashtray and radio to access the inside top bolts of the heater core cover...while you're there remove (pull straight up) the parallelagram-shaped union where the 2 hoses that defrost the front door windows connect to the heater core cover. If possible a 1/4" drive flexable shaft extension will help reach the bolts that hold the case together nicely....and if it's not leaking really badly....run the engine up to operating temperature just before you are ready to remove the heater core cover (after you remove all of the bolts) when you get to this point you'll know why I say this.....you have to flex it pretty far to get it out and the plastic gets much more plyable when it's hot.

 

i found it pretty easy to do in my '93. only took me 2 hours. well 1 hour cause i spent the other hour tearing apart the whole dash and putting it back together when i didn't have to.