Finally broke down and bought an electronic halogen leak detector and took apart most of the front trims. Just as I feared, my evaporator core is leaking somewhere. I removed most of the trim to be able to crack open the cover of the HVAC unit where the evaporator unit is. A/C leak detector goes crazy. Argh......looking at the directions to replace evaporator seems like I have to remove EVERYTHING in the front. I feel like crying

Why couldn't it be something easy like the compressor.
Any suggestions on how to replace the evaporator without having to rip apart the interior and removing the HVAC unit?