crappy lt77 gearbox

just finished my 1986 classic 200tdi and manual gearbox fit, the lt77 i used was aquired some some time ago and i had not tested it, just took a gamble with it, anyway it turned out to be crap, clonking whining and syncro,s gone on third, now question is i have got another one coming and i wondered is it easier to fit the gear box up in two parts ie, fit the box and then the transfer box, i fitted the whole engine and box together when i did the modification, but dont really want to take them all out again, somebody said that its easy to split the box from the t/box, something i have not done before.