Topic: Busted the dang mas. cyl. circlip......... grrrr !

[Spanner 1]

Got a rebuild kit @ Z1 for my K8 bike mas. cyl. but the circlip is frozen solid in it's groove and I busted one of the circlip pliers 'holes' trying to get it out..... nada, it wont budge. Any tips on removing the 'snap ring' by devious means that don't involve 'gunthering' the piston bore ??

[DH]

Spanner, I usually use a long sharp pick tool, forced into one of the holes. Get the thing to turn in the groove first, then lever it up, bending it, and finally getting it up far ehough in the bore to the point where a stout pair of needle nose will grip it. Then just kind of "wind" or twist and pull up carefully. I never bought the pliers. It sounds like a nasty way to do it, but done carefully, it works good. You might want to spray some good penatrating oil like PB blaster in there to eat some of  the corrosion, and let it soak a while before you start. Seems like I've used both a long straight pick and a long 90 degree ended one alternately. Having only one hole left to work with is a bummer. Patience, as I'm sure you know, goes a long way. Hope you get it out w/o too much damage/frustration.

[Spanner 1]

Thanks DH... I guess I'm off to Nthn. Tool to find a good 'pick' as my cheapo circlip pliers wont quite reach the one 'hole' thats left !
Anyone else got any other ideas ?

[dave500]

those cheap jewelers screw driver sets can be ground into good picks,i have a couple of weird shapes now for specific jobs.

[Juan1]

I know I am resurrecting this from the dead, but I just spent the last hour trying to get the circlip out of my k8's master cylinder.  Here's how I did it after I figuring things out.

Tools needed:
-Small standard screwdriver.
-Small allen wrenches.
-Snap ring pliers with removable tips.

1. Put PB blaster on the circlip and let it sit for an hour or two.
2. Remove both tips from your snap ring (circlip) pliers.  We will use one of these tips as a pry tool.
3. Rotate the circlip with a small screwdriver so that one eye of the circlip is in the brake's shallow part, where the brake lever usually goes.
4. Take the tip you want to use as a pry tool and put it in the circlip's eye.  Using the shallow lip as a fulcrum, pry the circlip inward and upward.  Keep doing this until you can release the pry bar and the circlip eye will rest raised off the bottom of the hole.
5. Now take a thin allen wrench and put it in the snap ring plier such that the wrench's long side is in the barrel of the tip holder.  Use the proper allen wrench size to tighten the smaller allen wrench into the snap ring plier.  Tighten this well. 
6. The snap ring plier is now a pulling tool.  Place the short side of the allen wrench under the snap ring and pull up.  At first it helps to pry at the same time. 
7.  When the pulling tool snaps off of the ring, reposition it and pull again. 
8.  After 5-10 tries, the snap ring side you are pulling can be brought slightly above the lip with some effort.  At that point, shove your screwdriver between the two, and twist the screwdriver until the snap ring pops out.
9.  Take off your shirt and run a victory lap around your block (optional).

[dave500]

10.drink beer.

[martin99]

The trick I was shown a few years ago, and have since used successfully on two 750F2s, is to drill an 1/8" hole in the master cylinder body, directly over the circlip groove, allowing you to use a pin-punch to dislodge the clip.

[754]

Man you guys will do anything to not get the right tool..

[74750k4]

Just went through this last week...

The circlip was heavily rusted and stuck in the groove. Lots of wd40, and moving it around. Busted both ends of the circlip off.
Finally used a very small flat bladed screwdriver to pry out the remains... a Royal PITA!!!

By the way...  anyone have a link to the correct tool???

[754]

Mine is Hazet internal snapring plier , may be discontinued but there is others.
 If the snapring wont rotate in the groove.. Heat it up to loosen it.

[Don R]

The trick I was shown a few years ago, and have since used successfully on two 750F2s, is to drill an 1/8" hole in the master cylinder body, directly over the circlip groove, allowing you to use a pin-punch to dislodge the clip.

I broke off both eyelets and still got it out using this method. Choose an inconspicuous location. The drill bit auctually popped mine out.

[Stev-o]

Thought for sure Lucky resurrected this thread for some of his words of wisdom