Legality of exposed cam gears - NSW

[charade_16v]

Fellow toy-modders,
something has been troubling me of late...
it be the legality of exposed cam gears in NSW.

Can anyone shed any light on this?
I want to run no cam gear cover on the street, like this:


Cheers,
Mark

[dangdang]

Why not run a clear cam gear cover?

Legalities shemalities, I'd be more thinking along the lines of crap getting caught in your cam belt, probably more so than the odd punter putting their finger in there.

[Gordo]

Yeh true i agree with dang dang

[oldcorollas]

not roadworthy, due to the obvious danger of someones fingers getting munched if bonnet is up and engine is running.

do you need the extra "belt cooling" or is it just for noise/coolkid points?

[trdee]

It is illegal no ifs no buts. That being said I have run no timing covers for two years on the road (including that pesky gravel entry to the pelican at wakefield ) without any issues.... but thats more because I had no timing covers to use! Now I do and I am installing them as soon as the car comes back from the zorst shop. If you run an interference setup then I would DEFINITELY be putting some covers on it lol.

[TERRA Operative]

I use a clear one as above on my 4AGZE (mainly to keep the HKS pulleys nice and shiny ). Funny re. the legalities though, as the belt for my power steering is the same height and forward in the engine bay, and apart from a tiny little inch square cover at the very top, the belt is totally exposed.

Still, the law is the law......

[charade_16v]

Well that sucks.
Wanted it fully open as IMO with the backing cover on the cam gears doesn't look very neat.
the clear cam gear covers look ok, still I reckon it'd look better fully open.

Dang, your setup looks nice, with the backing plate painted silver to match the cam covers.
Maybe that's the go...

[Billzilla]

I didn't run any covers for about a decade on mine, never a problem with debris and it saved me once as I could see the belt starting to fail from oil damage.

[charade_16v]

Yeah I wasn't worried about potential objects like rocks and that, just wanted to know if it was deflectable in NSW...
good point on being able to see wear/damage.

[LeeRoy]

Why would it be illegal when all the other belts are exposed.

My asusmption would be that it's covered to prolong belt life, and avoid belt failure from dirt, rocks, etc which could cause engine damage.

[Cuzzo]

Dont worry....im sure they wont defect the ke20

even IF its fully legal.

[CrUZida]

Why would it be illegal when all the other belts are exposed.

Simply because thats how the manufacturer made it, and how the regulatory bodies accepted it at the time...

[charade_16v]

"F*** tha PO-lice"

[oldcorollas]

idiot

"F*** tha PO-lice"

yeah, you tell the cops reading this to... hmmm

is same reason radiator fans need to be shrouded from above... to stop other idiots from touching them while spinning..

pretty ricey to just want to lose the covers so it "looks better"

[thechuckster]

the irony is that exposed fan/alt/power-steer/a/c belts are still the norm. And, yes there's the teeth on the cam belt to protect and longevity between servicing to think of.

2cent opinion: no-one will give a fuck. It won't void your insurance. Your mum will still cook you dinner. The internet will still be there in the morning. It (the belt cover) will only be a concern to a select few cop/rta nazis who intend to yellow sticker your car regardless of what's been engineered or how safe it is.

So (to original poster): are you concerned about passing an impending inspection, or just trying to cover all your bases on the extremely unlikely event that you are pulled over and inspected?