If the over heating was caused by a bad stat or restricted radiator the tranny may over heat because the tranny cooler is in the bottom of the radiator. The front seal on the tranny might be ruined(once over heated they are weak and will generally leak at a very low temp) and to replace it the tranny has to be pulled back about 6 or 8 inches so you can remove the torque converter. The only thing that could maybe be left hooked up is the wiring so you just as well slide it out where you can work on it easier.