red58, mine was so packed full of grease and gummed up that it had to be removed. There was also a lot of foreign crud in there I could only get out by fully submerging it. It literally looked like someone packed both halves completely with grease and sandwiched the innards then continued to top it off over the past 60yrs.
Now that I have an appropriate amount of grease in there, next time I can simply pop the top, wipe it down and re-grease.
In my opinion, if this is the first time its been done that you know of its probably a good idea remove it and clean it completely.
As far as adjustments, other than getting the shift lever where you want it, you're only pulling the cotter pins out at the bushings so nothing should need any tweaking unless the clamps were out of adjustment to begin with. ...in which case you'd need to do it anyways.
Besides, removing it was such an easy process that I can't see why you'd skip cleaning it completely if it needs it. My shifter moves and springs back so freely now. I can only imagine it'll be like new with all the bushings and grommets replaced.
