In terms of A440F-removal noob lessons learned:
1.) If I wasn't dead set on doing my first transfer case tear-down on the bench, the advice to pull it apart before trying to remove the transmission was excellent. As predicted, the transfer changes the weight distribution in a very awkward way.
2.) Side-bottle motorcycle jacks (or at least the one we had) work, but create their own problems to overcome. There was only one jack orientation that was getting the transmission disengaged from the engine, but there was also no way we were getting the transmission all the way to the ground that way because the transfer case interfered with (came to rest on, in other words) the tall frame that holds the jack cylinder. We resolved that issue by getting the assembly about half way down, then supporting with rope/transmission lift hooks and a regular floor jack so that we could pull the cribbing from the moto jack, rotate it 90°, and raise back up to support the transmission. Then we moved the floor jack around parallel to the moto jack supporting the transfer case, and lowered them both together. Going back in, I'll save the tranfer re-assembly till after the transmission is secure. There were zero injuries or close calls, but it was really slow doing it this way, and I can see how a lift and proper transmission jack would make this job way way easier.
This is the moto jack at 90° and the floor jack supporting the transfer.
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3.) There are 8 x 17mm bolts connecting the transmission to the engine.
4.) Those bolts are not all the same length, obviously I'll need to figure out which goes where before attempting re-assembly.
5.) As predicted, the top passenger-side trans-to-engine bolt was the hardest to remove. Combination of long extensions through the shifter hole, plus one of us fishing with the other watching/directing from the engine bay. I may make sharpie marks on the transfer shift mount area to indicate the proper angle of attack to hit those holes for re-assembly.
6.) I made a wooden cradle to help the unit stay upright (see pic above), and it put most of the weight on the oil pan flange/casting instead of the pan itself. I think it was effective at stabilizing side-to-side like a trans jack pan might, but I fit the supports too tight to the pan armor mounting points on the pan, and cracked one of them. The pan is still intact, just need to fix the mounting tab, but I was disappointed that I hadn't see how how hard it was rubbing. We took it the cradle off, removed a bit of wood where it was rubbing, and that fixed it. I think it will help with re-assembly, and I'm 99% sure that with the transfer removed, the trans will actually balance on it.
7.) The electrical connectors will hang up between the engine and I think it's the stiffener thing. Gotta help them through while lowering.
8.) We worked it out, but a deep socket (14mm, I think) would have been handy for the transmission mount nuts under the cross-member.
I'm sure there's more lessons learned, but that's what I have at the moment.