Heater core started leaking, reminders/tips how to remove box?

Driving home from running errands the heater core started dripping. 1971 Dart 360 (rebuilt motor recently) and my radiator was re-cored a few years ago. Cooling system in good condition but original heater core. Probably just age caused it to finally fail.

I've only removed the heater box out of the car once and I'm looking through the manual trying to remember it. I know the hooks inside I need to remove. I can't recall do I need to remove the blower motor or can I leave that in? Anything else aside from unhooking the cables? Any tips or shortcuts is appreciated since my work space is limited right now.

This is the heater core with 2 different hose sizes. I believe one hose is 5/8" and the other not sure. Does anyone know? I want to pickup a step-fitting to hook the 2 hoses together securely so I can drive the car during the heater core repair.

Lastly what heater cores are we going with these days? Any decent brands or are they all the same made in China stuff?

BTW this is a non a/c car