I’ve seen people running Subaru engines in VW’s with no cam belt covers, What is the advantage of this?
A26: In a word, nothing! It is VERY dangerous, both for you and your engine. Do you want to risk losing a finger, etc when working on the engine? Running with no cam belt covers is NOT a good idea, unless you don’t mind breaking cam belts when dirt gets between the belt and the pulleys. Don’t be misled by reading that Subaru engines are of a ‘non-interferance’ design, so it doesn’t matter if the belt breaks. This is certainly true of some SOHC Subaru engines. The valves will not hit the pistons on a DOHC engine, however, they will hit each other unless both cams remain in phase at all times. Expect the damage to be at least eight bent valves if cam belt breaks on a DOHC engine. The DOHC Subaru engines can require body modifications when fitting into the small engine bay of a Beetle. This is a possible reason why people may remove the covers. The DOHC engines are a tighter fit due to the cylinder heads being much taller to accommodate the extra cams. The plastic cam covers fouls with th
