Removing distributor during tranny removal

I was reading up in the Honda manual and it says to remove the distro and starter before removing the tranny. Is this necessary or can I leave the distro and/or starter on cause I'm afraid of screwing up the timing or something like that.

you dont have to remove the distributer at all. But if you must, make a mark across the distributer to the head, and line it up as best you can when putting it back on. it'll be fine. these cars arent real picky and the computer will also compensate. One of the starter bolts does go all the way through and does need removed, so i would definitely pull the starter....that cant screw anything up.

I did pull both out yesterday, wasn't that hard at all, I did mark the distro for reference. I thought it would've been a little more difficult

like they say, at least mark the dizzy timing mark. dont worry about screwin up the firing order as the dizzy only lock in one way.