i would say the biggest rod killer is cold temp run in. The rod cops a beating when its new, tight and cold run in rich. If you can immagine a sleeve tapered at the top and a piston non tapered. if the sleeve dosent get to expand through heat then the piston smashes into the taper. This shock then gets transferred to the rod bushing, crank pin and bearings.. Both on and off road engines punish the rod / pin relationship , there is a lot of free revving in off road , with less resistance it can really speed up wear. Im amazed that engines las as long as they do...

I use a jewelers flat blade to carve it out. the bag trick is a good one too or just line it up with the flat blade and place the thumb over the clip so it cant fly off into the vally of the lost clips .. You know theyre trying to escape ...

is that jewelers flat blade thingo 1 of those reali tiny screw drivers that u get with bout 6 other drivers in a small packet if u know wat i mean :confused:

woo hoo got out those stupid pins i_:)_i but now how do i put them in :confused: lol

trail and error......

Ehh, but it is better to use new clips.....

got no new 1s on hand but ill order sum to have if i ever do need em cheers

To put them back in a have a modified bent long nose plier, its got a small pointed nose with really flat even surface, i grip the tail of the clip ( end that curves in ) and push the end into the groove, i then twis the clip to make it smaller as i push it into the groove, i then cover the hole with my finger and push the gudgeon pin towards it to make sure its clipped in. I then rotate it in the groove so that the tail is facing sideways. Beware the tail is not bent outwards in any way... it can catch when hot and total your piston