There should be a pocket in the window lining - i.e. a small "loose" piece of timber which can be taken out for access to the sash weights. There will be a staff or guard bead - a strip of timber around the edge of the frame. This has to be taken off to take the sash out. If the sash to be re-corded is the outer one, then the parting bead (which separates the 2 sashes) will have to be removed too. All of these beads etc will probably have years of paint on them! The sash cord is nailed on to the sash - it lies in a groove in the edge of the sash. The other end is tied through a hole in the end of the cast iron weight.
JD, October 2008