is there a way I can just remove this part without taking the evaporator lines loose? I'm getting a hissing sound from this area and I'm loosing refrigerant, I just filled up yesterday and it already drained down.

 

You need to remove the whole evaporator box from the car to work on the parts inside. It doesn't come apart while still mounted in the car. Removal is quite simple. First remove the glove compartment. Undo the straps on either side of the box holding it to the blower assembly and the heater assembly, go under the hood and disconnect the refrigerant lines (be sure the system pressure is ZERO first), take out the bolts holding the box in and unplug any wires.

After opening an A/C system to make repairs you will need to pump the air out of the lines with a vacuum pump. You can't just recharge it with a can, a mixture of air and refrigerant gives poor performance and a lot of strain on the compressor. Also as part of any major service, the receiver-drier should be replaced.

Edit: Also that hissing sound could just be normal refrigerant flow through the expansion valve (if you hear it when the compressor is on or shortly afterward). The leak may actually be somewhere else. Check the condenser for damage by stones from the road.

 

the problem is, is that this happened in conjunction with some foggish type of air coming out of the vents,

 

yeah, I opened up just to take a peek inside, it's nasty as hell in there, leaves small feathers etc.....vacuumed it out but, it's kinda pointless the freon pressure this morning was zero after charging yesterday.....I'll pump some leak detector in it and make sure it's the evaporator core, but it does seem that it is