Timing belts and other important parts

So I was extremely bored yesterday and I got to thinking about my timing belt. After doing some math (since my odometer stopped turning when my speedometer cable broke years ago), I figured that I'm probably right around 100,000 miles.

And we know what that means - time to replace the timing belt.

Now I could take it into a shop to do it, but MR2's sometimes require ridiculously long labor to accomplish the simplest job. A timing belt change would be one of them. The belt only costs around $20, but then add $250 dollars just to install it. No thanks...I've always wanted to learn how to do it anyways.

But since I'm going to be pulling things out of the engine, I'm starting to make a list of other small jobs I can take care of while I'm monkeying around.

- Timing belt
- Crank pulley belt (has a tendency to break, leaving a part in the crank)
- A new water pump
- And now I'm wondering if I want to replace a few parts of my ignition system, like the distributor, rotor, wires, etc. I can get a good deal on the parts, and just to avoid a breakdown later.
- And this is just speculation right now, but why don't I also pull off the valve cover to adjust my valve clearance, which would definitely quiet them down on acceleration/decceleration and to replace the valve cover gasket, which I'm starting to suspect of leaking.

The cost of all these repairs is actually quite decent, around $150, but would pay off great benefits: Increased reliability, better fuel economy, and hopefully an improvement in performance. It is only a matter of whether I have the time to do it.