Pics were waaay too large, but I changed them to links, so they should work much mo betta now.
You do NOT have to remove any of that stuff to get the heater core OR the inside box/plenum out. All of the
A/C stuff is on the
engine side of the firewall, and the
heater stuff is on the
inside of the cabin.
If the A/C is working, and you remove ANY of the lines for the VIR, or anywhere else in the A/C system, you're gonna loose the freon....there's no other way around that, unless you have a recovery system....and I'm assuming you do not.
The grunge on the VIR could be engine oil leakage, or it could be A/C refrigerant oil leakage...hard to tell from the pics. Are you sure it's not some kind of undercoating?
Regardless of what it is, I wouldn't consider it "normal". Something is leaking onto/from the VIR.
Wrench sizes are gonna be in the 1 1/4" to 1 3/4" sizes...perhaps larger....it's been a while since I've done any A/C work on older GMs....
Adams' Apple2011-02-14 11:02:58______________
Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56
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