Need to take the cylinder heads of a friend's 2.7T (timing belt jump, no compression).

Debating if it is easier to do the work from the top (engine in place), or remove engine and transmission.

Can someone provide some insights? I have pulled 2.7T engine/tranny (manual) twice, but have not tried to remove the heads.
Car on hoist, cherry picker available.

If "heads only" is not quite a bit easier/faster, I would pull engine/tranny to do some additional work (turbo, torque converter) on the car.

 

Much easier to pull the whole powertrain and pull the heads with the engine out of the vehicle.

I have 3 2.7t engines apart at the moment...