[FantasticChadwick]

OK, well, like many of you, I too am now in the club. I just finished changing the heater core in my 2000 Olds Bravada.


Have any of you read the book 1984? I never understood toward the end of the book how they broke that man and turned him into one of them. This project has helped me see that. I have submitted to my Bravada. I'm changed. I've stepped through to complete surrender.


OK, so a hot shower and a neck rub will bring me back. Let me get on with throwing in my input.


For starters, I didn't dremel the tabs in the begining. Instead I opted later to use brute force and rip the #$ #@%^#! %&$(#*@ piece of #$*@ heater box off of the firewall. That was of course after removing all the other bolts from the engine compartment.

I didn't cut where it says "Cut here for service", like the post abave mine says, I removed a few extra bolts and folded the soft rubber cover back. I used about a 14 inch extention with a swivel and a 10mm socket to get down inside the little hole in the engine compartment to get the pain in the @55 bolt out. fortunately I have small hands that fit inside there so I could grab the bolt and put it back in upon re-assembly. I have no advice there for you people who can't get your hand down in that hole.

I also didnt undo all of the wiring from the dash. It was a SERIOUS pain the @55, but I didn't want to get into inadvertantly blowing an airbag or some other insanely expensive mistake. It required copious amounts of cussing and stepping back in disbelief that this inannimate object would have the gaul to screw so badly with my world, but with enough wrestling and finagling I was actually able to get the old one out and the new one in. Getting the heater box back in was a chore that would have been made far easier with a second set of hands, but I managed in my restricted state of having only two hands to do the job.

Dash re-assembly was entirely too easy. I still feel as though it was too easy to have been done correctly. The dash seems solid and everything works.


total project time was 4 hours. I couldn't have done it without the first post in this thread. It made little sense before the project, but I printed it and had faith in it. I followed it, deveating only slightly here or there.




Tomorrow I get to replace my balljoints AGAIN for the second time in less than a year. I splurged for the Delco's this time.