SUPER EASY Retaining Clips Removal Method.
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Joined: Feb 2013
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From: San Francisco Bay Area Ca
SUPER EASY Retaining Clips Removal Method.
Hello Fellow Enthusiasts; Thought I would share a easy/great way to remove the retaining clips on LS7 pistons.
rotate the retaining clip so that the opening/gap of the retaining clip is perpendicular/90 degree angle to the connecting rod or parallel to the bottom edge of the piston.
Take a small sharpened point awl & using a hammer ( I placed the piston in a machine vise) place the point of the awl about 1/16-1/8 inside the piston's rim/edge, And directly above & centered over the retaining clip gap & With the hammer hit the awl, and the awl will Easily penetrate the soft aluminum, keep tapping the awl, chip away a little material at a time, until you have created a small slot that now extends to the piston retaining clip slot groove.
Now using a small screw driver, rotate the retaining clip till an end extends 1/4inch past the newly produced slot.
The awl point will now be able to get behind the retaining clip, pry the retaining clip away from the slot & like magic, the retaining clip is now positioned for EASY removal.
What you have created is a 1/8 slot that should have been done at the factory.
Once after various methods of STRUGGLING!!, I happened upon this method almost by accident, as I was originally using the awl as a center punch to create an indentation for a drill bit, then realized how effortlessly the awl penetrated the soft aluminum piston material creating a "Perfect Slot".
I quickly noticed how the awl acted as a DRILL bit, a little careful tapping with the hammer using the awl essentially as a drill, produced, "EXactly" what I was going to try & achieve with a drill & drill press.
I took after the first "learning piston slot" method, roughly less than 3 minutes from the time to create the slot to retaining clip removal, it was "1" of those AH Ha moments...Mark
rotate the retaining clip so that the opening/gap of the retaining clip is perpendicular/90 degree angle to the connecting rod or parallel to the bottom edge of the piston.
Take a small sharpened point awl & using a hammer ( I placed the piston in a machine vise) place the point of the awl about 1/16-1/8 inside the piston's rim/edge, And directly above & centered over the retaining clip gap & With the hammer hit the awl, and the awl will Easily penetrate the soft aluminum, keep tapping the awl, chip away a little material at a time, until you have created a small slot that now extends to the piston retaining clip slot groove.
Now using a small screw driver, rotate the retaining clip till an end extends 1/4inch past the newly produced slot.
The awl point will now be able to get behind the retaining clip, pry the retaining clip away from the slot & like magic, the retaining clip is now positioned for EASY removal.
What you have created is a 1/8 slot that should have been done at the factory.
Once after various methods of STRUGGLING!!, I happened upon this method almost by accident, as I was originally using the awl as a center punch to create an indentation for a drill bit, then realized how effortlessly the awl penetrated the soft aluminum piston material creating a "Perfect Slot".
I quickly noticed how the awl acted as a DRILL bit, a little careful tapping with the hammer using the awl essentially as a drill, produced, "EXactly" what I was going to try & achieve with a drill & drill press.
I took after the first "learning piston slot" method, roughly less than 3 minutes from the time to create the slot to retaining clip removal, it was "1" of those AH Ha moments...Mark
Last edited by sidepipe seeker; Aug 24, 2014 at 12:07 AM.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 617
Likes: 74
From: San Francisco Bay Area Ca
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,205
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From: Tucson AZ
Woooooo....... I was hoping someone else would reply, so I could figure out what you were talking about. This is all new to me. Didn't mean to strike a nerve; just looking for a little education. 
