For those interested, the chore was pretty much exactly as I guessed with one difference.
I released the rear mount from the cover and from the frame and removed it in order to get it out of the way.
I then removed the bolts connecting the driveshaft to the yoke expecting to be able to drop the driveshaft down. Wrong! Problem was I could not get the driveshaft past the bolt in the end of the yoke on the differential. Unfortunately in my car I could not push the driveshaft forward enough to clear it either. Since I had to remove the forward mounting bolts anyway I went there next.
This is where it gets fun. Clearly the rear end is installed in the car before the body is placed on the frame as the nuts for the forward mounting bolts are quite difficult to access. I ended up getting the left one off without too much swearing and as much by luck as anything else. The right one however required my disconnecting the E-brake harness in order to get my fat hands up to the nut. At this point I discovered that the full size 19MM wrench that I was sucessful in using to hold the left nut could not be positioned to grab the right nut. I tried a socket but the bolt is so long that it would not grab. All well and good except a deep socket is too tall to fit in the space. Knowing I din't have a 19MM stuby I went back and tried more with the full size wrench. After about ten minutes of concerted swearing I elected to do what seperates us from the lower primates and make a tool. Since I was not particularly interested in cutting my Snapon in half I went and bought a Craftsman 19MM wrench and another deep socket. My thought was in case the modified wrench did not work I could chuck the socket into the lathe and turn a 1/4 inch or so off of it. I dropped my modified wrench (just cut it in half) in place and it worked so I supported the differential with a floor jack and finished removing the last bolt. Then I slid the differential aft in order to drop the driveshaft out of the way then slid it about two inches forward of it's regular position.
Next I broke out the deadblow hammer and started tapping the rear cover. After a few blows it was loose and I was able to pull it out without difficulty.
The whole thing is now dripping the last of the
oil so I can get good clean surfaces for sealing when I re-assemble.
When did people stop using gaskets?