I did my core a couple of years ago - standard, no A/C. Short summary = If I could do it, I'm sure you can to. I removed the dashpad and did my cluster lights all in one shot. I also cleaned up some previous owner wiring. Removing the dashpad isn't that big of a deal - just lots of screws and time. I still had some difficulty removing and reinstalling the box, but I'm sure a lot if is because I never did it before. To your point of no heat, I wound up cutting and terminating the hoses in the engine compartment because I didn't want to have to do this job again in the future. So now at least the new owner will have the option for heat. It's a convertible and I rarely put the top up anyhow. I'll never know if my new heater core works.