Thanks for everyone's responses. With the help of a couple of my friends, the core is now replaced and I am in the process of putting the dash back together. What a mess this was though. Now I need to steam clean the carpets, then it's off to the engine work. Thanks again for all the help. If anyone is interested, there are a couple of pix of the car without the dash at the link below.
Kyle
http://www.users.fast.net/~effort/mb/