On a 90 Notchback, has anyone found any "tricks or shortcuts" to replacing the heater core? Thanks Bubba

 

on any car.... pain in the ***. Dash probably has to come all the way out...

 

None that I know of It's a 50 dollar part that will cost you $700 in labor to have it put in.

For doing it yourself get ready to spend all day being annoyed

 

The only thing close to a shortcut is if the ac isn't charged, you can disconnect the lines to the evaporator and completely remove the heater box to swap the core. But the steering column and dash still have to be removed so it's a tedious process. I've done this many times in the past and for one week it was the only thing we had in the shop to fix since there were so many.
One big thing to remember is when given the option of a cheap one and an expensive one from the parts store, always get the more expensive one. The cheap ones are made so delicate that sometimes the soldering doesn't hold up to being pushed through the foam seal in the firewall.
Let me know if you need a hand or any other help since I am nearby.

 

got a 88 fox that i am in the process of removing the dash now because the previous owner bypassed the heater core. thirty something dollar part but shops will charge 400-600 dollars to do it. thankfully i don't need this car on the road right now. it can be done as long as you have tons of time to spend on it.

 

this is probably the only shortcut you will find
http://www.survivalstore.com/r3s1lbb3.html

 

I haven't done one in a Mustang but when I did my '97 F150, I didn't actuallly have to remove the dash (like the manual said). I only had to pull it back out of the way enough.. that saved a little time and effort not having to unhook as much. Don't know if it will work for the Mustang or not.

Still had to drop the column, take out the airbag, get a buch of stuff out of they way.. it still took all day.. and it still sucked... but it is a lot better than driving to work frozen