Timing cover or Not!

[LKWTSI]

Just out of curiousity

I'm in the middle of a rebuild and my old lower timing cover got trashed by the A/C pulley and I was going to buy a new one. But, I got thinking about it and this car is not going to be anything but a track/ AutoX car. So is there any negative things that really stand out about running the motor without one, other than the obvious( timing adjustment or just plain and simple belt care). I'd buy one if it's "absolutely" necessary, but if not what is the experience's out there on this.

Thanks.

 

[Ravenous]

it may be dangerouse to run without, and i wanted to show off my camgears so i cut circles out of the front of mine for the visual goodness... also my lower timing cover has been cut up into a smaller piece (got rid of the area from the water pump and up and to the left. my belt is only exposed in the area where it faces the lat and power steering pump.

Ya just have to be carefull and organized so nothing falls in there when you're wrenching, and just hope that nothin makes a fluke jump up into there. but either way nothing is 100% safe, the only thing i worried about with the upper cover removed and why i cut circles out of the front is i was afraid the plug wires might get caught in by the gears or rubbed through by them

just my 2 cent

That is a great idea, I hate trying to wedge a socket in between the block and the fender. That water pump part is the worst of it. My buddy was asking me if I could show him how to do the timing belt. I told him it was easy, the worst part is removing and installing the cover. This would certainly help a lot with that part. Thanks!

 

[LKWTSI]

Thanks for all the input, I'm still on the fence as far as putting all of the covers back on. I may look into the cut down version and see if that's an option, sad thing is I have to buy a brand new one as the old one was trashed. I don't like the idea of spending over $100 just to hack it up, so I may just put the lower one and call it good.

"TurboGlenn", I'd appreciate any pic's of yout mod if you can.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Hey, it's entirely your choice. All of the facts are here so the choice is yours to make.

^^ Good luck with whichever you choose.

 

[Thomas91169]

btw if youre worried about cost, venture around your local pick n pull. i found a lower 4g63 cover laying around one day.

I ran mine for about 3 years with no problems. Included snow driving. Then one day after a simple teardown the center crank bolt backed out, made the UDP come loose, which made the alternator belt fall off, and ran through the timing belt and crank sprocket, skipping timing, hitting 4 intake valves.

sooooooooo.....

basically user error. not a crazy rock or anything.

i ran no covers on my last 1g. unless you have a built head, worstcase you skip timing and you can find a used head (less cams) ready to bolt on for $200 easy.

 

[ramsack]

I like the looks of the belt without a cover, it's badass, but I would never do so because an accessory belt could snap at any time. If it was a track-only car with no accessories I wouldn't run a cover.

 

[supravw]

I take it you don't drive in the rain, dodge puddles, and have never accidentally hit some mud?

All it takes is something as small as a pebble to destroy your shit. WHY take the chance? That's like plying football with no cup. Sure, you may NEVER get in the nuts, but WHY risk it? Seriously? >.< Better be safe than sorry.

Just be careful when working on your car and you wont' drop crap in vital places. I ALWAYS keep my timing cover closed because I have a tendency to lean on crap.

But trust me. You hit a mud puddle by mistake and you might just find out that keeping crap out of your engine bay isn't easy.

That's what splash shields are for. I've never seen water change direction mid-flight.

 

[romeen]

gixxerdrew had a rock/foreign object destroy the motor of his RTA car due to not running a timing cover. A VERY expensive lesson. Read about it in his blog.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/blogs/gixxerdrew/786-bad-news.html#comments