Piston clip/pin..plz help

[Big joe 3288]

Can someone tell me how to remove the clips that hold the piston in place..im using needle nose pliers but it seems to be a lot of resistance and i don't want to break them...

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

Yeah I remember having a fight with mine. I think I bent them out of shape a bit but I just replaced them with a different type of circlip, the type that uses circlip pliers and is a lot easier to get in and out. The new clips were very inexpensive.
No idea whether they are more or less reliable at 8000 RPM!

 

[crassius]

it can help to file just a tiny bit of groove into the tips of your pliers so they don't slip off the clips - but just TINY