Ideas req, for inserting snaprings 503 pistons.

[nickjaxe]

Hi guys I am in the process of reassembling my 503 after de-coking the pistons,

I took the pistons off the con rods for ease of access and have just finished getting the last of the 4 circlips back in the pistons,

What a bugger of a job, I know Rotax have a neat tool for this job and I believe it costs big bucks, but I wonder if anybody knows of a cheaper tool than the Rotax one or any easy techniques to do this job without the risk of stabbing your fingers with a screwdriver that I could use in future,

I think I made the job harder by leaving the fan tower and gearbox in place but I basically just worked a small portion of the snap ring in at a time with a screw driver as I saw Mike Stratman doing in the CPS DVD,

But there has to be a better way, those rings when there new have quite some spring in them, so anybody any ideas for a home made tool.

Nick.

[V]

I don't think it has to be the genuine Rotax tool. (I haven't worked on Rotax engines, so I stand under correction!) Any correctly sized piston ring pliers should do the trick and since you probably won't use them every day, they don't have to be the best and most expensive.

The prices here look quite affordable for example: http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Tool-Shop/ ... Ring-Tools

Cheers,

V.

[Duck Rogers]

A small screwdriver works just fine. No need to poke holes in your fingers.
Just a matter of technique.