Thank to the encouragement and advice from the good Neon fans on this board, I made the attempt and was successful! It took about 90 minutes from start to finish. The only problem was that I didn't fill the system with enough coolant, initially about two quarts. Then I started her up and she promtly overheated. I pulled the radiator cap and poured in another gallon and there was no problem.
Thanks everybody,
Tommy
Now all I need to do is the clutch, the rack and pinion, the body work, and the paint and she'll be just like the day we brought her home in '95!