I cannot remember reliably. However, I think that the two bolts just gave a handhold to pull on, rather than levering the cover off by pushing on the case.

Again, I cannot remember for sure, but a look at my manuals suggests that the front cover and pump assembly should come out without disassembling the rear or the valve body. This should reveal the reverse clutches. At some point, though, it all has to be done in the right order, as there are interlocking bits that stop it from coming apart. For example, the rear shaft comes out the front, as I recall, and is stopped from moving by the governor and other stuff.

Andrew