I fitted a new matrix a little while ago and as has been suggested, getting the seals and clips properly installed was very tricky. My matrix has very stubby straight pipes (others have longer curved pipes which lend themselves to the short piece of hose and jubilee clips modification) so I used the original joining method. If you decide to remove the matrix, the following may be of help:
Working in the footwell, the feed pipes push inside the matrix pipes, using O-rings as seals. The O-rings must end up inside the matrix pipes, not pressed against the ends (so they sit between the inside of the matrix pipe and outside of the feed pipe). This was very difficult to achieve, but I did it eventually with the help of some vacuum grease which lubricated the O-rings sufficiently to slip into place. Fitting the retaining clamp was very fiddly and frustrating but I got there in the end.
To flush and drain the matrix before removal, I disconnected the inlet hose at the connection for the FBH (mine has no FBH so was just a plastic joining piece) and the outlet hose between engine and bulkhead. I fitted a short length of 15mm copper pipe into the open end of the outlet hose (behind engine). I then fitted a short garden hose over the copper pipe (this garden hose was just long enough to reach over the engine and down to the floor).
Into the heater inlet hose I pushed a hosepipe and ran tap water through until it ran clear from the short hose. I then extracted the hosepipe, allowing the short hose to act as a siphon and draw out nearly all the water from the heater matrix circuit. On disconnecting the matrix pipes, very little water came out and what there was, was clean so if it did get onto the carpet it was not going to stain it.
Having fitted the new matrix, I used the hosepipe again to fill that circuit and flush out any air pockets before reconnecting the heater hoses.
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