Heater Core

I believe it is bad I had seen signs of it leaking and I get the the smell of anti-freeze thru my vents along with constant heat even when the heat is off. I tore the dash pad and removed the speaker plus removed count-less screws. And already I give up this is hell.. How much would a shop charge to change it??

On a 92 model its a whole lotta fun to change a heater core!
The labor rate book calls for 8.5 hours for heater core replacement on 91 & 92 camaro. At average shop rates of $65.00 / hr you are looking at $552.50 in labor alone. The core itself only costs about $20.00. The final cost after taxes and shop materials & ect. would be around $650.00 (that is if you can find somebody that will do it, many shops will avoid these year models like the plague for core replacement because of all thats involved)

I did mine myself . It took approximately 6 hours and a lot of patience. There is really nothing hard about it but there is a lot to remove and you have to be careful not to break all of that brittle plastic that the dash components are made of.

Should you decide to do it yourself here are some of the things you have to look forward to:
Disconnect the heater hoses & blow the remaining antifreeze from the core with compressed air.
Remove the dash pad
remove the speaker mounts (where they attach at the fire wall)
Remove the numerous screws that mount the dash panel.
Remove the lower kick panels on the passenger and driver side.
drop the steering column down
remove the radio and heat controls.
Remove the trim on the console around the shifter and remove the console glove box.
Loosen the console assembly from the body of the car and slide it back as far as you can
Now you are ready to pull the dash panel back so that you can get to the screws that hold the cover on the heater box
remove the cover and expose the core
remove the retaining screw that holds the core in place
pull the core out.
You will have to change the retainer bracket from the old core over to your new core.

Reverse the process to re install the new core.
Be careful when replacing the new core so as not to bend the pipes too much and chance creating another leak. one person can do it but it would be helpful to have someone to help reinstall the new core . You need somebody on the outside helping to align the pipes as they come thru the fire wall.
The lower hose is a bitch to replace since it take a 90 straight down and disappears from sight and reach.
When replacing the dash panel and re attaching the steering column, be careful not to pinch wiring or crimp the vacuum hoses to the crusie control

Midway thru this you are going to ask yourself "why in crap did i start this?"

Remember - be patient. If you are getting aggrivated (and you will) with the project is is best to walk away and take a cool down break

Good Luck

I did mine in 1½ hours from the bottom, and never removed the upper dash pad.

Remove thw hoses from the engine compartment, and lower trim panel in the right footwell. remove the core case cover screws (7mm hex washer head). There is a larger (8mm) machine screw in the lower right corner of the dash (to the right of the ECM mount). If you remove that screw, you can flex the plastic dash panel rearward far enough to gain access to the upper core case screw. With a ¼" drive ratchet, a couple longer extensions, and the 7mm socket, you can reach the upper screw. That will allow the case to separate. You can then R&R the core as described. If you don't want to take that route, remove teh 9 screws that hold the upper dash panel in place that lift off the upper dash pad. That allows access to that same upper case screw. I had no reason to loosen or drop the steering column, radio or HVAC control pod, or anything else.

I have gotten as far as seeing the heater core but those two screws are so damn hard to get to. So you can get to them from the top of the dash. I cant remove the whole consloe I still have to drive to work. Plus they say before you install a new one find out if a remote start alarm or stero system is grounded properly.

on models 90 and earlier the labor rate book says only 2.5 hours & on models 93 and later only 2.5 hours
Its only the 91 & 92 years that have such a Pain in the rear 8.5 hours listed.

I tried to replace mine without removing everything, hoping for a short cut, but found out differently and ended up taking all of that stuff out (just like the repair manual said to do)