Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all ... My piston has to be taken out, but I can't seem to find a way to remove the circlips. How do I remove a circlip? ... all advice much appriciated ... all the best Jacob

Hi guys--------- First, you only need to remove one clip in order that the piston can be removed ( Remember to put the piston at TDC and pack plenty of cloth in the crankcase mouth.)........................Here are two similar types of grooves in the piston skirt that allow you access to the retaining circlip.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- using a small flat-bladed electrical screwdriver you simply insert it into the groove and under the clip.......By simple leverage the circlip can be removed...........Try to avoid the types with a small head on or with the ends curled around as they could break off with age...........

Errrrr why not simply get a pair of circlip pliers, or if the tangs in Alans photos are common just use a pair of long nosed pliers. Digging out with ascrewdriver......yes of course you can but it is the practise of the devil. LOL.

Hi JTL, Sorry to jump on your thread mate, but can I ask Alan R to explain in easy terms how to post photos on our hosts site please.
Howzie
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I'm guessing the op has the type fitted with no loop, essentially just a wire clip. If you have a piston with slot, then as Alan's post says, if no slot then a small thin bladed electrical screwdriver and carefully wriggle it in near the open end of the spring and lever it out. Replace with new, preferably the above type.

HOWZIE--------------E-mail sent to you...

Hi all ... thanks for replies. Unfortunately there are no grooves in the piston skirt to access the circlips and the circlips has no little curled ends. It is a plain steel circlip in a plain groove. I have already tried the small bladed electrical screwdriver for getting underneath the circlip, but with no luck (as for now)... I'm glad I asked for advice before I lost my patience with the little bugger, but as it is still there, I guess I have a long way to go yet. So, do you guys think it would be ok to make a groove with a Dremel just next to the circlip for a small bladed screwdriver to go underneath the circlip? Or should I just start wriggeling with a screwdriver, when I feel loaded with patience? Right now I wouldn't mind go for the Dremel job, since it seems to be the most straight forward way to get the circlip out. There is simply no room for a screwdriver to go underneath right now... all the best Jacob

Hi guys-----------"Practise of the Devil" eh?? Hi MIKE--- but then so is extending an open ended spanner with a ring spanner,........."jumping" a tight nut with a hammer,.............Drilling holes in your baffles, etc..............over the years I've now perfected this "Black Art" and have the bruises to go with it !!!!! JTL, if you can try a couple of practice runs on a scrap piston first, just to get the hang of it......

--------------ah, ships that pass in the night methinks...JTL, I have just done that very thing on a 1938 350 piston for the same reason, using the toothed edge of a thin, flat file.... I do have a photo to show you but the owner is on his hols at the mo. and wont be back until this Thursday.......but take heart dear thing, it CAN be done, and simply too-----------

Hi Alan R ... practice on a bit of aluminum first is what I will do (have no scrap piston). I have a fairly good feeling with the tool in question, so softness of the material is the feeling I need to get. Black Art is sort of my middle name, so this job is just a chalenge I will look forward to engage into ... once again thank you everybody ... all the best Jacob