Golf IV Evaporator replacement

[Dave]

the evaporator in my sons mark iv golf git has sprung a leak, so i’m looking at removing the dash to get access to the sucker.  i’m seeing it as long, tedious over a long wet weekend, but fundamentally achievable.  any btdt on the list on “achievability” for this? on a technical note, can anyone confirm that the structural cross brace has to be removed as well?

mac - i believe vw and audi are somewhat related ;-)

thanks
dave
’08 rs6 avant
’04 golf gti