daylon1650

is it safe to drive without timing cover or atleast the timing cover rubber seals.

AccordInTheMaking

Which timing cover(s) do you want to leave off? Alot of guy's including myself drive the car with the small upper timing cover off- especially if you have an adjustable timing gear.. it makes adjusting much quicker. Generally this is OK, and it would be unlikely for something large to get inside the bottom cover through the opening at the top.

The bottom timing cover, however, is a must. The bottom cover keeps out larger rocks and stuff that can get kicked up into that area, as well as it keeps out water after you drive through a puddle in the road.

At least keep the lower cover installed- otherwise you'll most likely end up getting a rock stuck in your timing belt at the worst possible time.

tamadrummer1120

Would be cool to fab up the upper one so that you can just take off the screws but not the valve cover, probably that lip would be all you would need to do to get it to work. Who knows, just a thought, then its protected and cam gears can be accessed easily.

AccordInTheMaking

That all depends on which year range accord your talking about. On say a '95 accord with the F22B1 engine, the valve cover must come off before the upper timing cover can be removed. On the other hand, in a '91 accord with the F22A1 the upper timing cover can be removed without taking off the valve cover (thats just the design- no modification neccesary. Modification would be required on the '95's design like you said- trim the cover or something)

tamadrummer1120

Yeah exactly, the 5th gens. Annoying as hell when you need to pop off the timing cover for anything.

daylon1650

what bout the rubber seals do you need those

AccordInTheMaking

Well NEED and SHOULD are two different things. The engine came with seals on the timing covers because they SHOULD be there to keep out dust and moisture. It is not super neccesary to have them there- but at least put the lower cover on, seals or no seals. So no you dont NEED to put them on (I know they can be a pain in the *** when the seal keeps falling off when you try to install the cover...), but you SHOULD. Lol- got it?