taking the back off a stepper

[blackburn mark]

im on the cusp of wiring my steppers up, however, as they are it will be a bit of a pain to make a nice tidy job at the stepper end,,, is it possible to take the back off a stepper like this without ruining it (iv read that splitting them damages the magnets)
57BYGH76-401A

there are 4 screws at the nose running through the entire length of the stepper to the back... i get the uncofortable feeling the whole thing will come apart