Master cylinder circlip

Will be putting my MC back together soon and am wondering if that PITA circlip needs to be put back in with the special circlip pliers (which I don't have), or if it can just be slid down the bore and snapped into place. Or if that's a bad idea all around (scratch the bore?)...

Anybody else manage to get that thing back in without special pliers?

Thanks.

 

pick up some cheapo pliers at harbor freight. Thats what I used and they worked great. I think they were <$5.

 

Even the special plires aren't long enough to reach in there. I'm with wrxg33k, get some cheap needle nose pliers and file the tips to hold the snap ring. I have several pairs of pliers in the tool box that are modified for such special applications.

 

just to clarify, I did use snap ring pliers and they were long enough. Here's the exact ones I used.

HF Snap Ring Pliers

 

Sears also sells a set of very skinny, tan handled needlenose whose ends fit into most circlips, thats what I used for mine. I've used the HF pliers before but had to "prebend" the tips inward to keep ahold to the clip.

jeff

 

If you have an old pair of Needle Nosed Pliers, ... you can spend a few minutes at the Grinder and fabricate a Tool.



Grind the Pliers down close to the Pivot.
Eliminate as much of material at the bottom of the Needle Jaws and all-around the Pivot.
Open the Jaws and remove material making the Jaws slender and Bow-legged.

 

the pliers wrxg33k posted a link to are the best I've encountered, ever.

To answer the OP's question: I have just stuffed the circlip into place with whatever pokey thing was handy at the time (my pocekt knife if I remember correctly)
Any part of that bore you might scratch is outside of where the piston goes (practically exposed to the elements really)

When I bought my pile of rat bike the previous owner was letting it go fairly cheap because "BOTH calipers were frozen" he rebuilt one and it froze up again. I paid him, took the title and fixed the MC (stuffed that circlip into it's proper place) before riding home. That was many thousands of miles ago and I haven't given it another thought.

 

I'm going to remind everyone that the piston and it's delicate seal will still need to travel through that bore so avoid scratching it whenever possible. And the bore should be covered with a rubber boot to keep it free of the general debris of motorcycle life. It, however, does not do a thing to slow the ingress of water. The best advice I have is to coat the exposed bore with some form of corrosion preventative (paint is cheap and comes right off with brake fluid).

 

it (the boot), in fact collects water once it's drain hole has become clogged with the aforementioned debris. It's kinda tucked away back in there but it IS exposed enough to pull it loose and have a peek now and then. Part of the over all upkeep, folks.

You make a good point Robert, about the seal passing by that bore on it's next go around. I have a rebuild kit sitting around that will thank you for reminding me of that if the original ever decides to finally fail.

 

A proper pair of snap-ring pliers makes this much less of a PITA. Right tool for the job

 

Got it, thanks for the advice. I went down to Tractor Supply and found the same pliers that they have on Harbor Freight - $10, circlip snapped into place.

Now if only the clouds and rain would break so I could put the whole system back together...