Circlip Fell out?!.......

[lpmaster]

Well, i'm assuming its my fault, since i did the rebuild but

anyways one came loose and tore up the piston and sleeve, luckily staying lodged in the top-end.

these suckers were tricky getting in, i used some needle-nose pliers and kind of worked them in there, probably not the best idea as i was bending and tweaking them, which probably weakened or deformed them.

Anyone have any better ways of putting these circlips in correctly. I'm trying to get the tope-end back up for thanksgiving, thanks again

[bradley300]

i put them in by hand just enuff to hold thierselves in place, then i try to find a deepwell socket that will fit and push it all the way in with that. or, push it all the way in with a screw driver, just makes sure its sitting down in the grooves

[440exroost1984]

When you rebuild an engine it has to be perfect or its gonna do what happend to you. The right kind of tools is a good start.

[underpowered]

i install them with a pair of needle nose pliers. but i also use a deepwell socket to make sure they are completly seated in the grooves.

[lpmaster]

awesome, thanks for the socket advice, i didnt reallt think of that, i just kind of made sure they were in there by sight and feel, i wasnt paying a whole lot of attention, as this was my third time rebuilding my top-end (i had nitrous previously) but this is the first time with an aftermarket psiton, so the circlips probably fit a little better

[helle4]

if you try your local auto store they have a set of pliers for the clips pretty cheap too.

[L.Vegas400]

put one side in on the bench before putting the piston on the rod. if you put both in with the pin through the rod you risk pushing the pin out the other side installing the first clip. if that make sense

[lpmaster]

yep, makes sense another good tip. i think i'll be ready when my cylinder gets back from re-sleeving!....hopefully before thanksgiving, apparently as with many other people in my area

[dork]

always leave the gaps at 12 or 6 o clock, not 3 or 9 since they can compress from the g's when the piston changes direction.

[lpmaster]

i didnt think of that, but i will definately consider that, the more input the better, thanks everyone so far

[1fst400]

We had a racecar that hit the wall. The impact from hitting the wall knocked the cirlip out we think. Because when we got the car back into shape and went to run it. The car made 3 laps and blew up. Turns out the clip was missing and the pin moved out and tore apart the cylinder walls. :eek2:

[lpmaster]

ya, im pretty suret hats what happend to my cylinder, without the hitting the wall part;)