i have a leaking heater hose and i started to try and replace it today. well, shortly there after i was stumped. i have a 73 and is there an easy way to remove and replace the heater hoses? they go through the firewall and connect way up under the dash between the heater and blower i guess. Is it possible to do without removing the dash? thanks for the help

One is slightly possible, but extremely difficult, the other is downright impossible. I bypassed mine because of the difficulties.

I removed the blower to get better access to the heater core where the hoses connect. I have a 71 but I think the design is the same. I got it done with out removing the dash. I removed the conduit that routs the air to the defrost too.

you don't have to remove the dash, just blower motor to gain access. it is a lot easier to go the whole nine yards and remove heater control console panel and then the entire heater box.

it started with my needing to replace the heater valve, and i wound up replacing everything (heater hoses, core, grommets and valve). it's not difficult, just a major PITA and i figured since i was halfway there anyway, i'd rather put everything fresh and not have to do it ever again.

plan on devoting at least 4 hours for a quick job, 8 hours or more depending on how thorough you want to be. i also lubed all the heater cables, washed out the ducts and took apart/lubed/repainted/reweatherstripped the heater control unit and heater box. this took a bit longer than just replacing parts.

get a FSM or haynes/clymer/chilton manual, they're pretty accurate and complete in the description of the job.

take your time, try not to rush and keep telling yourself that no matter how impatient you get, it will still take the same amount of time. if you can accept that, the aggravation factor can be kept pretty low.

not a hard job, just tedious.

You don't have to remove anything. Just buy a philips head screw driver that is 1" to 1 1/4" long. Bit of a pain in the arse but alot better and overall easier than removing the blower or anything else.

Good luck..