Prepping for Heater core replacement. What do I need to know?

Hey guys, I am prepping to do replace my heater core and evaporator on my 97 XJ. I already have the new core and evap that I ordered from Rock Auto. But from the experienced I want to know what else I need? What foam seals should I plan on replacing and where can I get them? Also, rear somewhere that someone used felt adhesive in between trim pieces to help reduce creaks like the factory used in a few places, anyone know where I can buy this stuff? I work in sales at a dealer so I can try the parts department first for a lot of this stuff. I plan to take this on my next day off next tuesday and hope that I can get it done in 1 day.

Squeaks and rattles kit
http://squeaksandrattles.info/

I've done the job. One day is possible, but its a long day.

I would test the quick disconnects of the evaporator against your lines to make sure they fit correctly. Recently I've found a bunch of Chinese parts don't mate up well. I've also found that even the Spectra heater cores need to have the lines bent some to line up correctly in the heater box. Some folks have reported suboptimal heat output with aftermarket cores. For these reasons I paid extra coin for the dealer parts. The dealer parts fit perfectly. You will need to cut the seals around the blower and the evaporator/heater core lines. You can buy this from the dealer as part number 4874069AB. I would test the vacuum actuators while the box is out, and make sure the blend door swings smoothly after you put it back together. There are 5 studs on the heater box that go through the firewall where nuts hold it to the firewall. The lower nut behind the engine is a devil and if you drop it seemingly disappears somewhere around the bell housing. Inside, with the dash, primarily what you are trying to do is get only enough out so you can swing the dash out to get the heater box out. You don't need to bust down the engine dash for this. You an certainly do it that way, but its extra work. There are 4 bolts across the top by the windshield so you have to take the surround around the instrument cluster & then the top of the dash off. For example, I think you can leave the end caps on and don't need to mess with the airbags.

Subscribing. I'll be swapping mine out soon. If you can update with any info or problems encountered that would be amazing. I've heard it's a straight forward job, but very tedious; still daunting. And I'll set aside an entire weekend just for this.

I just finished putting mine back together yesterday and those were the few things that stood out in my mind. A couple of more, (a) the center console comes out and goes back in VERY easily if you loosen up the parking brake adjuster under the vehicle - so the parking brake handle can go ALL the way up. If you skip loosening the adjuster you may be fighting with it for a while. (b) The column does not need to come out, just lowered off the support. To get it back on, so it lines up with the studs, you may need some extra persuasion with a hammer and or a punch. After trying to do it 'easily' I started reading more and found out the solution was extra persuasion. Instead of trying to make a long day out of it, since it was the first time doing interior work on a vehicle, I decided to fart around with for after work for a bunch of days. Be sure to add enough A/C oil to compensate for lost oil by changing parts & oil that may have been lost because of the leak in the first place. I would change the accumulator as well, and add 4.5-6 ounces PAG 100. I use Auto Zone accumulators they seem to work fine.

Couple things I saved hoping I never have to do this.

http://buckeyejeeps.com/stuff/XJEvapReplacement.pdf

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/97-later-heater-core-replacement-219723/

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/heater-core-replacement-what-i-learned-3105433/

Ralph77 said:

Couple things I saved hoping I never have to do this.

http://buckeyejeeps.com/stuff/XJEvapReplacement.pdf

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/97-later-heater-core-replacement-219723/

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/heater-core-replacement-what-i-learned-3105433/

Click to expand...

So my heart sank a little when I read the second link. He talks about how the Spectra heater core is aluminum and much smaller than OEM. Well thats the one I ordered. So now I have to send the freaking thing back because my heat already feels inadequate as it is.

Anyone have experience with Omix-Ada. It appears to be made of copper/brass from the looks of it on the RockAuto website

So I decided to stick with the Spectra Premium heater core because nobody except the dealer makes a brass one anymore. I compared the original core and the spectra and the thickness difference is negligible so the surface area for heat transfer is near identical, the top and bottom plates that sandwich the core are two different widths but these plates do not have coolant running through them so it makes no difference on heat transfer.

But whoever said this was a 5 hour job must have had an easy Jeep to work on. I spent nearly 2 hours just trying to get the A/C lines off. I had to use a pipe cutter and cut the ends of the evaporator off so that I could force the quick connect release tool into the quick connect so that I could finally get them off. Had I not already planned on realign the evaporator too, I would not have known what to do because they just were not going to come off. I spent nearly 7 1/2 hours working on it before I had to quit because it got dark out. I don't have another off day until next tuesday so the Jeep now sits until I can get back to it.