Water Pump questionable replacement proc

["Lino M. Valadas" <valadasl@osha.igs.net>]

Hello all,

I need to replace the water pump on my Ur-Q.  I have the pump, but have been
postponing doing it because  it's such a big job pulling the crank pulley
etc..
I'm telling this to a friend of mine who does quite a bit of work on Audi's,
and this is how he replaces the pump:
He removes the front grill, inter-cooler/auxiliary rad.  Then removes the
timing
belt cover.  So far so good.  Here's where it gets funny.  He pinches the
timing belt to the camshaft gear and crankshaft gear with nylon ties so that
it doesn't  move.  He then snips the timing belt back plate at the water
pump, the narrow part of the
plate, and folds both sides of it outward until it clears the water pump for
removal/install.  After installation, removes the nylon ties and bolts
everything back on.  Simple.
Has anybody ever done a water pump this way?  I'm concerned about having a
sniped back plate (vibration noise, etc.), on the other hand I'm very
tempted to
do it since my timing belt doesn't need to be replaced.  Any thoughts?

TIA
Lino
86 5ktqw