Topic: Brake Master Cylinder Snap Ring Pliers (on the cheap)

[mark]

The master cylinder is in the vise(with padding), the piston is pushed down with a small screwdriver(propped on top of the vise), and I could probably get the circlip out with ordinary snap ring pliers....... but........ the MAC guy quit a while back and my small pliers are short a tip. dang.

The pliers sold for this purpose are nice....... but...... I don't feel like buying one right now. The price of the pliers would pay for the master cylinder kit and a caliper seal.


This project requires a pair of cheap pliers, 2 hardened concrete nails, drill and grinder.

First attempt: used 2-1/2" nails - too long and springy - had to squeeze them together with needle-nose to get the ring out.

Second try: used 1-1/2" nails - ring comes out without further assistance.



Dug around and found a pair of old cheap pliers. Nails measured .144" . Drilled pliers through with #27 (.144") bit, then almost through with #26 . Ground ends of nails to a cylindrical shape tip. Hammered nails into pliers and ground some more from sides for clearance.

Yeehaw it works!


Happy trails.

[manjisann]

AWESOME!! When I did my MC I bought some cheapy Needle Noses from Harbor Freight (gotta love the cheap tools!  )  and ground them down to fit. They look aweful and didn't work that well, too much flex. I will definately have to try this idea, though hopefully not any time soon  .

Thanks for the awesome idea!

Brandon

[winnipeg550guy]

 Sweet ! Might have to give that a try, looks pretty sturdy.
 Sure beats my cheap ass made in China pliers I picked up at Princess Auto( Canadian version of Harbor Freight)

[mystic_1]

Well, now I know what I'm doing this weekend. 

thanks!

mystic_1

[BeSeeingYou]

Here is how I did mine.  I modified a long needle nose pliers but found that even though it was a bit flexible putting a little pre-bend in the pliers overcame this. The problem I had was it seemed like too much force was required to squeeze the clip and at the same time keeping enough downward pressure on the tips to keep them from slipping out. Keeping the plunger depressed helped but still not enough.  Finally I decided on another way.  Using the c clamp I clamped the allen wrench across the handlebar clamp with the short end holding the plunger down.  Spun the c clip around so one end of the clip was in the opening for the brake lever.  Using one tine of my homemade pliers I fit it in the hole in the c clip and pried inward and upward.  It gave me just enough room to wedge a small screwdriver along the side and  underneath and wedge it out of the slot.   As I worked it in it upended the c clip and out it popped.  I did this on my second try.

I did see that Bike Bandit has the proper tool available for $26.00.  All the others I had seen in looking around at various places did not have a deep enough reach or were to big.

[mark]

Update:

It has been brought to my attention.... (thanks kirkn)

that the modified concrete nails can have their heads removed....

and used as replacement extended tips for the pliers at left:


.... which I may have also done, had I been able to find them.


imo, nothing terrible about the old K-D snap ring pliers, other than the pliers and loose tips were hard to keep in the same place for some odd reason. (bad bad bad can't find the tips)

 

hey, those $10 pep boys pliers almost look long enough.

 

(image courtesy of someone out there)

[odin836]

After many failed attempts I finally got into the MC.
I thought the image would assist others, not only did my MC have a circlip with "eyes", but also a wire ring keeping it down.

I used a pick set, similar to a dentists as only one eye remained on the circlip (see image).



Be patient, it will eventually come out!

[Don R]

I broke off both eyes fron the snap ring. I measured carefully and drilled a small hole through the area where the handlebar fits to the mastercyl. The bit accidentaly hit the snap ring and popped it right out. Very lucky. The plan was to push it out with a pick.

[Bob Wessner]

not only did my MC have a circlip with "eyes", but also a wire ring keeping it down.

It's been a few years since I did mine, but as I recall, the wire ring holds a rubber dust boot in place.

[manjisann]

It's been a few years since I did mine, but as I recall, the wire ring holds a rubber dust boot in place.

This is correct.

When I rebuilt mine I shot some wd-40 in there to loosen all the corrosion up and left it over night. When I came back the next day I used a dentist pick to remove it. I still love the pliars though!

Brandon

[Laminar]

I stopped by Northern Tool and Equipment last night to pick up some long snap ring pliers. I grabbed a pair, and ended up finding some small, long needle-nose pliers in the bargain bin. It turns out the snap ring pliers were too thick to reach all the way down into the master cylinder's bore, but the needle nose pliers not only fit all the way down, but the tips were small enough to fit into the snap ring's holes. Piece of cake.

[Toxic]

Yup pretty much hate all of you guys right now.

Read all the tips and sometimes you just have to admit defeat.
It's not often I have to give up but the M/C beat me.

The only thing constructive I can add is that be sandblasting down where the "C" clip is at least I was able to see the eyelets.

Took a hammer and smashed the cr@p out of it.  Felt good.

I'll order a new one from Parts & More.

[Laminar]

Yup pretty much hate all of you guys right now.

Read all the tips and sometimes you just have to admit defeat.
It's not often I have to give up but the M/C beat me.

The only thing constructive I can add is that be sandblasting down where the "C" clip is at least I was able to see the eyelets.

Took a hammer and smashed the cr@p out of it.  Felt good.

I'll order a new one from Parts & More.

Don't do that yet! Check your PMs!

[MotoErik]

Yup pretty much hate all of you guys right now.

Read all the tips and sometimes you just have to admit defeat.
It's not often I have to give up but the M/C beat me.

The only thing constructive I can add is that be sandblasting down where the "C" clip is at least I was able to see the eyelets.

Took a hammer and smashed the cr@p out of it.  Felt good.

I'll order a new one from Parts & More.

I am looking for tips on getting that damn c-clip out....  I feel your pain.

[aggiepike]

I used the needle nose plier tip and it worked out well.

Go buy some small cheap needle nose pliers get a file and go to work on the tips making them small enough to fit in the holes of the snap ring. Once I did that I put hit the tip of them w/ a hammer to put a small lip on the end that will help grab the snap ring. Once you've done this take your MC put it in a vise or something that will hold it. take a screw driver or whatever you want to put the piston down and hold while you go to work on the snap ring. Should come right out.

Hope this helps.

[Denotslaer]

Seen this a few times in restorations ;

If your MC has a dust boot , remove it and soak the cavity of the piston with PB Blaster . That clip is made of steel and often rusts itself to the MC body; Or becomes fat with rust preventing movement . Let it soak for a few days and use a straight pick to loosen any rust around the clip and channel of the MC body. Clean and repeat the process until you can slide the clip within its rail / channel. If there is a dust boot clip , pry it out first. Then use your pick to pull the clip out then up towards the piston. A "Hook" pick also helps. Good Luck !





DENO

[70CB750]

I took the boot out, blasted the bejesus out of it with gun cleaning spray.  That got the circlip loose to move around, but for the love of Pete, it took me forever to get the circlip out.

I made from two cheapo drill bits pair of pins for my heavy duty ring pliers, but they flexed too much to work 

I ended up wedging the ring up with a screwdriver and pulling it out with pliers.  The assembly was a snap compare to this, especially with HondaMan book in front of me.

[mycoal]

Incase anyone stumbles on this thread looking for cheap ring pliers like I was, I just picked these needle nose pliers up for $2 at harbor freight based on a suggestion in this thread: http://www.harborfreight.com/5-3-4-quarter-inch-needle-nose-pliers-40696.html

I tried to warp all of them to see which one had the least amount of play. They're actually very sturdy. I then bought the thickest one out of that pile.

Went home and grinded perfectly round tips using this dremel tool:


Basically just go around the tips in the same direction that the dremel is spinning and you get perfect cylinders. Came out looking like this:







I've already done two very tough snap rings and the pliers are fine. There was a slight warping, but nothing too bad. Best part is if the tips ever bend or break I could just grind them down a bit seeing as how these pliers are a lot longer than the master cylinders are deep.

[haynes66]

and here's mine!

made the pins from welding rods.

[70CB750]

Clever!