Cleaning Up Fresh Air Ventilation Box, Removing the circular clips Options

[andys]

I'm cleaning up my fresh air ventilation box (under the cowl), and want to disassemble the housing that holds the fan and motor. There are some circular steel wire clips that hold the plastic housing halves together. What is the best tool or method to remove, and then replace them without cracking the plastic bosses?

Also, it looks like the foam rubber on the butterfly valves are about shot. Where can I get suitable replacements or the material to repair them? Recommendations?

Thanks,

Andys

[drken]

Just went through this. I found what worked best was using "circlip pliers" to engage both holes at once, squeeze to open the clip up a little, then slide off to the side. Might need to experiment with different types/shapes of the pliers to see what gets past the "fat" part of the clip, and into the holes. Much less chance of breaking off the plastic bits.

Ken