Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
The heater core started leaking this summer, so I bought bypass caps to block off the lines until I got my roundtuit for this much anticipated job.
ONE CAP SPLIT ABOUT 3 DAYS LATER, I DON'T RECOMMEND THEM.
Core wasn't cheap, labor a real pain in the knuckles, but Issue 59 and Joe's summarized article gave my son and I enough to go on and tackle it in the driveway, yes, there is enough room to do it without disconnecting the AC lines, but only by about 7 microns. With new hoses we had heat as soon as the t-stat cracked open, but the defrost air flow is not strong, it cycles through all but defrost only. We checked the vacuum pump, hit almost 25" at the outlet, you can hear it cycling at the selector and it does hit vents, floor and in between, we'll try it like this. It may be the selector, or we threaded it up somehow.
Truck also has a US Gear e-brake and after we started it up, the e-brake cycled for the first time in a long time, musta jostled a wire or something.
Bad news, my dealer says the dash for out '97 tan is not available, all gone, looks like for our cracked dash it's plastic epoxy and toupee time with a carpet cover from Geno's.
What a nasty job, I don't have another brand as a comparison, but this was not a high point in the AC engineering from my perspective, but thanks Joe for the write up it helped a bunch.
ONE CAP SPLIT ABOUT 3 DAYS LATER, I DON'T RECOMMEND THEM.
Core wasn't cheap, labor a real pain in the knuckles, but Issue 59 and Joe's summarized article gave my son and I enough to go on and tackle it in the driveway, yes, there is enough room to do it without disconnecting the AC lines, but only by about 7 microns. With new hoses we had heat as soon as the t-stat cracked open, but the defrost air flow is not strong, it cycles through all but defrost only. We checked the vacuum pump, hit almost 25" at the outlet, you can hear it cycling at the selector and it does hit vents, floor and in between, we'll try it like this. It may be the selector, or we threaded it up somehow.
Truck also has a US Gear e-brake and after we started it up, the e-brake cycled for the first time in a long time, musta jostled a wire or something.
Bad news, my dealer says the dash for out '97 tan is not available, all gone, looks like for our cracked dash it's plastic epoxy and toupee time with a carpet cover from Geno's.
What a nasty job, I don't have another brand as a comparison, but this was not a high point in the AC engineering from my perspective, but thanks Joe for the write up it helped a bunch.
