Damn circlips!
 

So my circlip pliers were decent enough to remove the big one that holds the compressor housing on, but trying to get the damn circlip back on, forget about it. :vash:

Gonna have to pick up some cheap needle-nose and grind the tips down. Hope that'll work.

Spamnavy, if you're reading this, the turbo you sld me looks much better than expected underneath the housings. Thanks!

The 90* needle nose are the way to go, i've used them for all my turbo disassemblies.

I wonder if Ace is still open ;)

lol, what turbo did you pick up from him? the .48/.49?

northern tool and supply has 8-10 angled pliers for $8, in-store. i used them to remove the circlip on my t25.

I picked up a 16g from him. Appears to be a small 16g. Exactly what I was looking for, and in much better shape than the last few turbos I'd been looking at.

Thanks for the tip kung fu. There's a Northern tool just down the street...I'll have to go check them out.

Can you thread some bailing wire through the holes and use that to pull it together?

/crazy idea

The clip sits up flush against the CHRA so you wouldn't be able to get bailing wire through the holes. The 90* needle nose pliers are like $8 anywhere you go unless they're matco tools or something. Easy to find and beat the hell out of $30 snapring pliers.

i find some small needle nose pliers work better than the big ones it is a pain in the ass but it works esp if you find someone to hold the chra and help you put it in to the slot.

I know but maybe it's enough to get it ... real close.

Maybe you would have to be one strong SOB though, I know i couldn't do it that way. You would have to twist and twist that wire to get it to bind the clip or something. The clip has to be about 95% compressed in-order to get it to go back into the compressor housing at all.

i used 2 screws that fit tightly in the hols of the snap ring, then pulled the screws together with needle nose pliers... far from ideal, but worked

Hmmm, good idea. I'll have to try that one if I can't get to the store tonight.