There is lots more work to come yet!
Last night I unbuttoned the rest of the things holding the transmission to the engine, but I didn't have time to actually pull it out. Here is what I did:
With the passenger axle out, I removed the guard around it so I could get at the transmission bolt. The top 10mm snapped off so I'll have to figure something out or just not put it back on.
I also removed this aluminum panel as it will get in the way of the transmission dropping out. Its very likely that there are more underside panels to remove but I think I'm missing a few.
I also went ahead and removed the CAT. I wanted to inspect it to see what condition it is in. Turns out it looks great. Unfortunately, I also snapped a stud in the head (the right one) while taking it off, so I'm definitely going to have to fix that.
Thankfully there is enough stud left there that I have something to grab on to. I also snapped one of the bolts that holds the springs on the other end. They're basically shoulder bolts. Worst comes to worst I can make my own shoulder bolt with a bolt and some tubing for the same effect. I'm more concerned about the stud in the head.
With that all removed, I was able to remove the 3 larger bolts holding the transmission to the engine block.
Next, I took the bolts out of the rear engine mount. I may still have to remove the rest of the mount, but I'm going to give it a shot with the mount attached to the transmission.
One more thing I unbolted for clearance to get the transmission out. Just a couple 10mm bolts. I've been using my Makita cordless impact to back a lot of these bolts out on this project and it really works well. It won't get the larger ones out, but 10-12mm and even some 14mm it backs right out, and it does it fast.
Finally, I took the top bolts out of the transmission (two of them), and removed the transmission side of the engine mount.
This should make it totally ready to pull. I ran out of time before I had to head out last night though, so I didn't get that far. So, tonight is the night!