2000 Mercury Cougar transmission question

To Whom It May Concern:

I am working on a 2000 Mercury Cougar. Three transmission shops advised me that the transmission problem is internal, and said that the car's transmission could be rebuilt, replaced with a remanufactured transmission, or replaced with a transmission from an auto salvage yard. The owner of the car has opted to go with the third choice.

I obtained one from an auto salvage yard, and my question is, "can this specific transmission be dropped by itself, or do I need to pull the engine/transmission out of the car & seperate the two after they are out of the car?"

We are looking at a 2000 Mercury Cougar, a 2.5L 155CID SFI DOHC VIN-L Duratec V6 engine, and a 4-speed CD4E automatic transmission, with 131,000 miles.

I'm a do-it-yourself person, with positively no hands-on experience on that year/make/model, and I would appreciate it if anyone could answer the question mentioned above. I exhausted my resources for an EXACT Chilton or Haynes manual (I found some with years that were close), but came up empty-handed. I found a Haynes manual that guides you through rebuilding the transmission, once it's out, but I'm looking for solid advice in removing/installing the transmission, and do it RIGHT, the first time.

Thank you, in advice, for any helpful advice.

Best regards,
Rick Kline