Reusing piston circlips

[jughead500]

Whats the general consensus on reusing circlips.i'm missing one in a new oem kit.the piston im replacing only had 3-4 hours maximum use.should i?shouldn't i?

 

[lone wolf]

Whats the general consensus on reusing circlips.i'm missing one in a new oem kit.the piston im replacing only had 3-4 hours maximum use.should i?shouldn't i?

I have many times but it depends if it was tweeked out of shape or not. A lot of times they can get stretched if you bend it too much.

 

[Zombiechopper]

I have in the past, when the old oem looks better than what comes in a piston kit. Depends if ya mangled em taking them out though. Also depends on whether the oem is a perfect fit in the new piston on not. Check it out first, but I'd say go for it

 

[lone wolf]

I have in the past, when the old oem looks better than what comes in a piston kit. Depends if ya mangled em taking them out though. Also depends on whether the oem is a perfect fit in the new piston on not. Check it out first, but I'd say go for it

I prefer the ones that came out to the ones that come with the Meteor pistons.

 

[fearofpavement]

I sometimes re-use the circlips. As long as they're still "round".

 

[Zombiechopper]

I prefer the ones that came out to the ones that come with the Meteor pistons.

yup. Me too. Prefer is the key word, because they are still circlips and are stupid. All saws should have snap rings. They'd be more secure and easier to get in and out with the right pliers. There is no 'right tool' for circlips. I use those clamping forcep hemostat things and I end up fudging the odd one on the way out

 

[jughead500]

Thiss will be oem stihl for oem stihl.saw cylinder turned out to be in great shape.had a new 44.7mm kit for one i was rebuilding.don't know where i lost the other new circlip.all i have are after market spares from northwood.

 

[jughead500]

Want to get this saw going and up for sale soon to recoop my funds.justdon't want to pass it on and have one pop out.of course a week wait i guess would be better than the alternative.

 

[1Alpha1]

I've always reused circlips.

Unless I had new ones, then I used those.

 

[jughead500]

Alrighty guys didn't think there would be too much of a problem.i feel better using one on a low hour saw than one that had been ran for 100,000 hours.

 

[Big_Wood]

i have always reused circlips since day one of my saw building/ dirtbike days. have never once had one come out on me. i've never had AM circlips let go on me either despite all the heated debate about them. there were a few sets in white box special pistons that had hardly any spring to them at all i didn't take a chance on though.

 

[1Alpha1]

My favorite circlups were / are the "e-clips". So easy to remove / install.

 

[1Alpha1]

i have always reused circlips since day one of my saw building/ dirtbike days. have never once had one come out on me. i've never had AM circlips let go on me either despite all the heated debate about them. there were a few sets in white box special pistons that had hardly any spring to them at all i didn't take a chance on though.

I'm thinking you didn't ride fast enough for one to come out.

 

[Big_Wood]

I'm thinking you didn't ride fast enough for one to come out.

i'm thinking piss revving in the garage probably sends them flying real easy

 

[1Alpha1]

How fast can you really go on a Honda XR-80?

 

[Agrarian]

I re-use the original OEM clips when I can and never had a problem. I do keep a small stock of new OEM clips for those times when the durn things go springing across the work room, never to be seen again. The only time I used ones from an aftermarket kit was when I had to use a VEC piston on a 246 (OEM NLA) and the OEM clips were too small a diameter. VEC must cut the clip groove deeper. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

 

[lone wolf]

How fast can you really go on a Honda XR-80?

Pretty fast around a 90 degree turn compared to a 70's car.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Some of the circlips on the China kits are very soft, kinda like regular wire, I ended up using used ones but should have gone to hardware store and bought some snap rings..

 

[Big_Wood]

How fast can you really go on a Honda XR-80?

LOL maybe that's what you ride old man. I've never ran an XR 80. First bike was a KX 80 when I was 6 or so. YZ 125 at 10 and bought a CR 250 at 14. Since switch to 4 stroke as I like the grunt. Sold my KX250 and KX450 to fund my goals. Gonna buy a nice 4x4 quad next. I like to be able to ride through a river with big boulders and not come out chief wet socks.

 

[1Alpha1]

LOL maybe that's what you ride old man. I've never ran an XR 80. First bike was a KX 80 when I was 6 or so. YZ 125 at 10 and bought a CR 250 at 14. Since switch to 4 stroke as I like the grunt. Sold my KX250 and KX450 to fund my goals. Gonna buy a nice 4x4 quad next. I like to be able to ride through a river with big boulders and not come out chief wet socks.

My dirt bike days are behind me. I still ride street though. Started riding when I was about 9 or so. I've had so many bikes it'd take me a few hours to try and remember them all and make a list. I had two younger brothers (only one now as my youngest brother passed in 2010) and between us, we had over 100 bikes, but not at one time.

My middle brother is still into Maico and M-Star. Same bike, just a new company. He has a total of five I think. Anyways, I used to own a 1972 Suzuki TM-400R Cyclone. It was a frigging beast. I'm sure it was long before your time, but it's reputation was well earned.

I've owned lots of other bikes, some very popular, and some not so much. One of the best was a 1986 Honda XR-600R. I actually had two, but at different times. It would go as slow as you wanted, and still be capable of 100 mph.

Anyways, tons of memories and lots of modifying to some extent or another. And yes, I can turn a wrench or two.