Alrighty, I got the transmission and rear main seal replaced over this last weekend. Work was slow on Thursday so I was able to clock off and bring the Pathfinder in and get the transmission out before I left. No problems there. Had a nice set up for getting the torque converter bolts out (long ass extension with a wobbly socket fed through oil cooler area to the hole where the starter sits), and the bell housing bolts (lowered transmission a little bit to angle engine down and again used a long extension and wobbly socket to get the upper bell housing bolts. Little tip, if you have access to compressed air, after you get the cooler lines undone, blow air through them to get the majority of the ATF out of there, and you won't have them dripping as much.
On Friday I pulled the drive plate off to check the rear main seal, of course it was seeping a little bit (from the oil pan half moon seal as @Mr_Reverse said) and I knew if I didn't do it and it got worse, I'd be kicking myself for it. So I did try to attempt to do it without pulling the oil pan, and you can get the old one out fine but since the new seal hasn't been compressed for the last 17 years it was impossible to put enough pressure on it and at the same time push towards the engine to seat the rear main. Oh well, I sourced the o-rings for the oil pan and I already had the half moon seals for the front and rear so I spent 8ish hours working on the oil pan. My biggest issue was supporting the engine. With the "Acura Special" engine supports I couldn't get a good place to have the 4 feet placed, but I figured out that if I turned it around so the adjustable feet are towards the back of the engine bay and the fixed feet are on the core support it fit pretty well. (https://www.crzforum.com/threads/2011-cr-z-transmission-removal-and-install.92243/ this is the engine hanger we have). And then used a chain around the throttle body and another I used a longer bolt in place of one of the intake bolts and ran it through another chain. Getting the o-rings on the little channel they sit in on the block is a pain in the ass to do, ended up using a touch of hondabond to keep them in place. After cleaning and reinstalling the oil pan everything went together pretty easy and way quicker than it came apart. I left Friday the same way I started, ready to reinstall the transmission.
Saturday, got the new transmission secured to the transmission jack, got the transfer case installed onto it and clocked the torque converter close to where the drive plate bolt holes were (I've over looked this doing transmissions a couple times and some cars fit tight enough together that once the transmission is installed you can't spin them separately very easily, so it's a good idea to get them close). Got the transmission mated to the engine, got the bolts hand tight, installed the torque converter bolts, tightened to spec, then tightened the bellhousing bolts to spec, reinstalled the transmission brace, removed the tranny jack and put everything back in that I had to take out. I didn't have enough hose to install the tranny cooler that I bought that I was going to run as a bypass. So I haven't installed the cooler yet, I cleaned out the factory one at the bottom of the radiator, didn't seem backed up at all, and I ordered up a few more feet of hose as well as a Magnefine 3/8" in-line filter for the transmission (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787KWZPS/) that I have seen some people recommend. So I'm going to install that before the factory cooler and run my new cooler as an add-on cooler instead of a bypass.
As of right now, I've put about 130 miles on this transmission and have no complaints about it so far. The biggest change (other than actually being able to drive it lol) has been the 1-2 shift when it is cold. The old transmission would SLAM into 2nd when it was cold. It would almost seem stuck in first gear and then just slam into 2nd, but the other shifts were fine.
Haven't decided what I'm going to do with the old transmission, give it to our scrap guys, take on disassembling it and rebuilding it (which might end with giving it to the scrap guys in smaller parts), or selling as-is to someone who needs a non-working transmission for whatever reason.
Couple things worth mentioning:
1. Our local nissan dealer didn't have the o-rings for the oil pan in stock and were a few days out if I was to order them, but our local Infinity had 15 in stock for a few bucks a piece (you need 2) so don't forget to check with Infinity, same part #
2. The crush washers for the banjo bolts on the transmission cooler lines, and power steering lines @ the rack are equivalent to Dorman 097-827CD, same width, inside diameter and outside diameter. You need 8 of these.
3. I ended up using an aftermarket torque converter seal (another "replace it while you have it apart even if it's ok" type of thing) National 224663.