At what point do I change Mtr mounts in a trans reinstall?

[Marcos]

Like the title says, trans is out and my concern is whether I should change the motor mounts out now or after reinstall. I feel the motor might be harder to rock back so that I can remount the trans, it seems a lot easier to line up the input shaft when the motor is tilted back, plus won't my motor just fall out if I disconnect the mounts now?

[scottinAZ]

makes little difference in reality. The mount the engine can rotate is limited by the clearance to the firewall on the head. when I reinstalled the trans in my vert this week, the most I could get even with torn mounts was just past level on the engine.

[jlevie]

I rarely drop a transmission with the engine in the car, preferring to pull the engine and transmission as a unit. But when I do I always disconnect the motor mounts and lift the front of the engine with an engine brace to gain better access to the fasteners. In which case I'd replace the mounts while the engine is off the mounts.