Well, there's no better time to clean things up than with them out of the car. Since the tranny has to come out, why not the motor, too? It's not much more work, and it'll give you a chance to inspect a lot of things that will be easier to replace if need be.

As for running it through the car wash on a trailer, most car washes don't like you doing that. I have better luck getting things clean with good degreaser and cheap parts cleaning brushes from Harbor Freight, anyway. Besides, you'll want a clean engine compartment, too, right? It's a little difficult to drag an entire car to the wash bay just to get the motor compartment clean.

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread