I'm assuming you are talking about an 88?
I have pretty much done this, for a clutch and tranny change.
If they're still there, remove the rubber splash guards from between the cradle and the space frame.
Remove the exhaust system, unbolting at the bottom of the Y-pipe. (You may be able to leave it attached to the cradle, but it'll be continuously in the way, and it's not that hard to remove.)
Disconnect the parking brake equalizer and cables. Unbolt the brake calipers, and hang them in the wheelwell, out of the way.
The bolts can be removed from the lateral links and trailing links where they bolt to the knuckle. The links can be left attached to the cradle, and the struts can be left attached to the shock towers. You may want to loosen (but not remove) the 13mm nuts at the top of the struts, to allow the struts some play to move around. DO NOT remove or even loosen the large bolts that bolt the strut to the knuckle. Doing so will throw your alignment to the wind. All the other stuff will bolt back together without affecting alignment enough to notice.
Disconnect the sway bar end links from the sway bar. The sway bar will probably pivot down with the cradle, and can likely remain attached to it.
Remove the axle nuts and tap the axles out of the hubs. You will probably have to pull the struts outward, to completely free the axles.
Drain the tranny, and remove the axles. (I was thinking they could be left plugged in, but they could easily over-extend, and will be greatly in the way.)
With the engine and trans supported, you can now loosen the front cradle bolts a few turns, and remove the rear cradle bolts. The cradle should swing down from the front, if I remember correctly. Been a while - I could have forgotten something. (Seems like there's always something for it to snag on.)
Get a helper and then remove the front bolts, and drop the cradle out.
Truth be told, it's almost as much trouble as dropping the cradle with the engine attached.
All that it saves you is disconnecting the harness, fuel lines, and coolant hoses. Coolant everywhere DOES make a mess.
If you want to try skipping any of the steps, feel free to give it a try. See how it works out and let us know. I seriously may be over-complicating stuff. As I said, it's been a while.
