Good Luck with your work. What are you planning to do?
I pulled the tranny on my 99 C4 this week for differential bearing work and what looks like a full flywheel and clutch replacement. 101000 miles, but only about 78,000 on the engine.
I did mine the way you describe, but before I put my transmission jack in place, I loosened all the bellhousing bolts and left them snug.