you do not indicate your skill level or the tools..jack, engine crane, etc etc you may or may not own.

if you bought a parts car and have few skills and fewer tools stick to the low hanging fruit.

if you have skills and own some tools pulling a trans is much easier than installing one since gravity becomes your friend not your enemy and aligning the input shaft with the flex plate is unnecessary.

if you are up to it i would

first: remove the plate between the trans and engine exposing the flexplate and torque converter, now disconnect the driveshaft from the back of the transmission. using a 16 mm offset wrench remove the 4 bolts connecting the flexplate and torque converter. you will need to have the trans in neutral and you will find it easier to attach a socket to the front crankshaft bolt and turn the engine exposing the bolts one by one. a spark plug removed makes this effortless. if you can get this part done you have a good chance of finishing the job.

then

1. drain the transmission, disconnect or cut the cooling lines to it and cap them or crimp them such that no fluid leaks from them
2. remove all the bellhousing bolts. the upper left one (above the starter) WILL give you a hard time because access is so bad..once or IF you can get them off
3. place a transmission jack or some such device under the pan
4. remove the transmission crossmember AFTER disconnecting the shifter linage from the transmission

with the jack supporting the trasnmission disconnect it from the engine.
the dipstick was removed early in the game

Dear j.pelchat,

Hope you're well. I'd use a low-price plastic tarpaulin to protect the driveway. Before pulling the tranny, though, I'd flush it with cheap automatic transmission fluid (ATF) (Wal-Mart or local equivalent). As the car is driveable, I'd drive it for 1000 miles / 1,500 kilometers. I'd reflush with Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF or equivalent. I'd drain and remove the steel ATF pipes, cap the pipe openings, remove the tranny and store it. Before disconnecting the ATF pipes from the tranny, put rags under the pipe connections, to catch fluid drips.

Storing the tranny "dry", i.e., without fluid in it, is likely to cause seals to dry-out. Further, by allowing air into places where air should not be, "dry storage" risks corrosion.

Further, when a "stored-dry" tranny is re-activated and filled with ATF, the pump will have to run "dry" for a few seconds. As the shifter is moved, it will take a couple of minutes for ATF to displace air and coat all internal working surfaces. This brief "dry" running cannot be good, as ATF is both a coolant and a lubricant.

The work involved in pulling a tranny is such that nothing should be done that might shorten the service life of the unit.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook