'84 944 Heater core replacement PITA

 My heater core or possibly the heater hose on my '84 944 is leaking into the cab and I'm tring to pull it out from under the dash.
 Anyone else here done this job?
 I'm into it 5 hours and I'm starting to loose track of all the crap I have disconnected or removed trying to get to this thing. 
 Does the whole dash need to be removed? Do you have to remove the steering column just to get the dash off?
 Any and all tips or links to info on this would be a great help. 
 
 Thanks.
 
 

Ouch, yes the entire dash needs to be removed.  You need to remove the steering wheel, but not the column itself.