So, in the process of taking off the super nice plastic 25-year old timing belt covers, they broke in about 350 pieces.  I was wondering what you guys thought about running the car without the covers... I'm feeling cheap.

Go for it. Did the same myself.

I Run my "BumbleBeast" Coverless since many time ago,

 

and the usage is 60% on Road (Week Days - Daily Driver) and 40% Offroad (Weekends)

 

and Never had an issue.

 

Kind Regards.

Ive heard of a few people who had issues in deep snow, but other than that a lot of people run without.

That's so awesome!  Thanks for the info!  I was really hoping that I wasn't gonna have to buy more stuff for this project. 

Wait... I can sell you some timing belt covers.   You should DEFINITELY re-install those !!!

Ahhhh.... just kidding.  

  All my EA82's are coverless.   Didn't work on my Hatchie, though.

Went coverless long time ago, never going back! 

anybody ever go play in the sand without covers? Thoughts on that?

I've been out on Sand Lake a few years ago.  Just S. of Tillamook.   It was a wet day, so the sand was pretty well packed.  No ill-effects to date.  But again, I didn't get into the deep fluffy stuff... I'd need some sand paddles for that.

Mine only broke in a couple of places and I repaired them. 'Green' lanes here are full of saplings, sticks and sharp stones so, even if they don't protect fully, I feel they do lower the chances of something getting caught in the belts.

I run coverless on any EA82 and phase 1 EJ22 that I run here's why:

Subaru's LEAK-that is a fact,with covers your timing belt gets to snake through the oil/coolant/dirt that the covers hold,drastically shortening their lifespan.

When/If the belt/s do break it is alot less work to slap on another timing belt/s and get going again,useful if they break on the highway or offroad.

Without covers it is super easy to check the condition of the belt/s, also because subarus leak it is alot easier to identify WHAT is leaking/failing around the front of the engine.

 

Downsides: A little bit of surface rust and discoloration on some of the pulleys,but the car spends 95% of its time offroad with the belt at least partially submerged in water/mud.