Volkswagen: 1995 vw jetta III gls, vw jetta, vw dealership

Question
Need to fix car for family ASAP. Once car is driven for a short while, the temperature gauge begins to rise to hot, and smoke comes in through the windshield vents and heater vents to the inside of the car, steaming up the windows and causing the engine to become extremely hot. When explaining this problem over the phone to the VW dealership, they, without seeing the car, identified the situation as appearing to be a heater core problem. Asking the cost to fix, they explained approximately $500.00+. Because I am in the military, we do not have the cash to pay a dealership or otherwise at this time. Could you share with me if in fact it is a heater core issue; could it be anything else; and, could I fix this myself. If you do not think it possible to fix on my own, are there hoses, or something we could detach to avoid the overheating, until we have additional funds to pay for this job (even if, in fact, we do not have heat - since it is summertime - that would not be a problem). Also, is there somewhere on the web that would give us step-by-step instructions on how to fix such things (and maybe even pictures, as to where to find these items on the car) on our own for, in this case, a 1995 VW Jetta III. Thank you for your advice at your earliest convenience. (Currently, we can drive off our hill, but even to get back home from the commissary, going up hill, the car begins to heat, etc.)

Answer
if you go under the bonnet, there should be two pipes going into the car (side by side) these are the heater core pipes. detach both pipes and insert a suitable sized piece of steel or copper tube. join both hoses together in this manner and it should prevent the problem. it does sound like a heater core related problem. sadly it means removing the dash panel to get to the heater box which is quit a major undertaking. the best thing you could do is to buy a haynes manual or similar as this should give directions and diagrams on how to remove all the parts. i think you should be able to repair it youreslf, but you will need alot of patience to do so.