Thank you so much
@maverickagm I wouldn't have had the courage to take on this project without your thread. Everything was just like you said and I didn't break anything! A couple notes for others doing this 2 years later:
-I think I tracked down the owner of the ebay store where you bought your emulator (his ebay store might be closed or his listings were being suppressed, couldn't find it), either way I did some sleuthing and here is his website. Sebastien was a pleasure to work with. He repaired my cassette player, and the emulator works fantastic. The whole thing took 2 weeks and was only $300 plus shipping ($50 each way, he's in France).
https://www.oldschoolalpinerepair.com/
-My AC always made a noise like there was a leaf hitting a fan... turns out when I took the dash off there was some old rotten foam and tape that were flapping when I turned it up. If you have a noise this could be it (see pics attached). I replaced it with some upholstery foam that would be more durable and didn't need to tape it. It stretched snugly over the vents and went in just fine putting the dash back on.
-While I had the dash off I had an upholstery guy paint the dash. He used SEM Color Coat 15243 Satin Black and it turned out great (see pics attached).
Thank you again, this forum is truly the best and I am even more in love with my car now.