Step 1 is to drain the coolant system and remove the radiator. There is really no good way to do this because coolant remains in the engine and in the hoses and IS going to spill all over you at some point. I think we did a pretty good job keeping the poisonous toxin spillage to a minimum. To give you an idea of how much DOESN'T come out initially - take these metrics. The initial coolant that poured out fit in a two liter bottle. After that, we still collected enough coolant to fill probably another 3 liters.
Here I am fishing for the radiator plug, which inconveniently broke when I tried to unplug it. Luckily the inside of the plug was hex and I had a hex tool that fit in there and could unscrew it.
The second part of step one is to remove the condenser and heater core hoses. When I got into the Chilton's manual on how to do that, it turns out you have to have a dealer purge the A/C system. I really need to ask you - why is THIS not step 1? What in the world were they thinking putting this AFTER making your car undrivable? Sigh - I guess I'll have to try to figure out how to purge the A/C system myself - even though it is pretty clear you should not do that. Thanks for that one guys! I suppose I'll read the fine print before getting started on any other jobs.
Despite the setbacks and potentially huge (and hazardous) problem of having an unpurged A/C system to deal with. It felt good to finally take the plunge. There's no turning back now! I finally got to update the parts requisition spreadsheet. Plus Diana made a great partner - I think this will be a fun project :-D
Here is the engine bay with the following items removed.
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