i was just wondering, is it actually safe to leave the timing cover off? i see alot of car with it off and i keep thinking well its ups are the belt stays cooler, and its awesome to see the timing gears, but the downs (to me, thats why im asking this question) is wouldnt it get some kind of debri caught in there and possible tear that belt a new one?

IIRC, somebody got some snow in there and ended up bending some valves as a result. Not a good idea unless you have to have it off because it won't clear aftermarket adjustable cam gears. Even then it's probably a better idea to find a way to modify it to fit back on there somehow.

I think you can safely leave off the upper half, unless you drive through some serious debris-ridden area. I would re-attach the lower half, though

you know what, im just going to leave it on lol, better safe than sorry thanks guys.

Seems safer too. If the motor is running and you lean over it in your baggy shirt or your tie gets caught in them..... OF course, you would be a Darwin awards candidate then too....

Well, mine's off for good - took the 2 upper bolts off and tried to pry it off, and the foam rubber gasket ripped. Then realized there were 2 lower bolts, took those off and tried to pry it off past the engine mount - CRACK!!! Looks cool, but don't want to get near that belt!

yeah, you're supposed to pull those four bolts, remove the engine mount, and then those studs unscrew and the cover slips right off. you can get the studs loose with an 8mm socket

You will have no issues leaving it off it is there more for customer safety than engine safety

Tom

OF course, you would be a Darwin awards candidate then too....

LOL, I love those stories! [:D]

I was debating on removing mine as well, you actually don't have to remove the motormount, just remove it after a good drive and it'll be warm enough to bend/twist it out.

Does the same go for the exhaust header cover?? I like the look of the stock SVT header exposed, but will this heat things up under the hood???

I have several friends that have run without them for years. Civic and foci. I agree with Tom, it is more for safety than engine protection.

6banger, I think you will risk paint damage to the hood if you take that off. If I took it off, I would probably wrap the header or get it coated in something.

6banger, i would leave the cover on unless you are going to wrap the header or get it coated like dcl2049 stated, reason being, the more heat that stays in that header the better. you will make more power with a hotter header from what i was told. I plan on wrapping mine since my shield is off because my best friend removed it when he owned it.

How far down should it be wrapped? To the first flange where it turns 4 into 2? Whats involved in removing the stock header so it can be wrapped? Is this done fairly easy?? Thanks for all your help!!!!

6banger, i would wrap it all the way to the cat, and if posible wrap the cat as well or if you have an off-road pipe wrap that too. ive never removed the header before but it cant be to bad, the shield might be a pain to get off though.

ive had mine off since i bought it new. never had a problem.

ive had mine off forever, and if you have camgears how else are you going to adjust them and show off the neat-o colors :P

i brought my car to the dealer 4 a engine squeek (still under warranty) and they told me to put my cam cover back on because moisture gets in there and causes it to squeek when the engine is cold. i thought it was a bunch of BS but i tried and it worked no more squeek.