Yeah, the box comes out first, then gets disassembled. Suggest you do all the evap/heater core/pods work on the bench. Get a small hand vacuum pump (Mityvac) and bench test the pods.

By removing the sides first, you may have been able to pull the box without removing the ignition cylinder and lock. It blocks the left hand side of the box just enough. I don't have my shop manual handy - ran out of disk space on my office computer - but I think all you do to pull the ignition is insert the key, turn it to position 2, and remove a single allen head bolt. The whole ignition assembly then detaches from the steering column. My memory is a bit fuzzy on it, that's probably close but not exactly right.

Re: the foam, take it all off. I went after it with a shop vacuum. No need to attempt a replacement, the HVAC system works fine without it. You need it to get that perfect, German seal on the doors, but really, you won't miss it. Actually, you're wife or girlfriend (possibly both ) will appreciate not having little black specs of foam deposited on her clothing while riding in your car.

- JimY