1977 Honda Civic; Timing Belt Replacement

Alright, many thanks for the latest reply to my latest Brake question. Now here's the big one.

Not too much of a car guy, but the last idiot that I let work on the car, delivered it to me with a torn up timing belt. Now, if it were at all possible, I would take it to a shop and let them deal with it.

Now here is the question: "I have a 1977 Honda Civic 1200; the valve cover is already off, and the upper timing cover has also been removed. The lower cover is proving to be a larger pain in the butt than originally thought.

After a weeks deliberation, the only conclusion I have come up with, involves pulling out the engine and transmission entirely.

Anybody who has dealt with early Honda's, will know that those cars were built cheap and modular. According to my sources (questionable at best), tell me that I have to remove the crank pulley, to remove the lower timing cover.

If anybody has any useful information on the topic, I am all ears.