Heater core R&R rants

[SCOTI]

I always thought it would be a piece of cake, 5 min job, to replace the heater core in a non-a/c equipped truck. Wellll . . . today I went to replace mine on the beater & found out it won't come out w/o removing the inner wheelwell (which had no fewer than 4 rusted/stuck bolts). I finally get the well loose (after several not so new words) only to find that it still wouldn't come out w/o getting the hood hinge out of the way first! It took a few minutes of 'beer' engineering/research to keep the hood in place w/o a hinge (I was working alone). Once it was apart there was enough crap in there to stuff a pillow (mice? it was a farm truck) & the squirrel cage is disintegrating. Called every local parts house to get another blower wheel & you guessed it . . . none to be found. Oh well, I guess it worked good enough so I went ahead & put it all back together. Total time, 4+ hrs. I hate when even simple stuff is hard. What do you guys use to re-seal the foam gasket around the blower motor? OK, I'm through ranting. Thanks.