Motobecane Snap Ring Pliers and Variator Removal

Moby variators are tricky to remove as
1. They almost completely require a tool (M24x1.0 pitch)
2. They require snap ring pliers with a long reach

The puller is easy to find, I bought mine from treats. If I had really known the measurements of the tool I probably could have found one real cheap on ebay or somewhere on the web, but I'll leave that to your business.

Once the clutch drum is removed it's difficult to reach in with snap ring pliers with a long enough reach to get to the 2 snap rings. I found this video which helped a lot in knowing what the hell was in there as once you remove one snap ring there is a set of washers/spacers blocking view of a second snap ring.

My problem was that my harbor freight snap ring pliers had no reach. The body of the tool hits in edge of the opening before it reaches the snap ring. I had built a tool to do this that worked ONCE, which required soldering 2 hardened steel nails with ground tips to the harbor freight tool. I broke this tool 5 times in the process of the job but it worked. Rather than waste my whole day breaking tools the second time I needed to do this I went to sears to see what they had.

The Sears snap ring pliers, though about $10 instead of $2, allowed different hex shaped needle points to be installed in them with a screw clamp. None of the stock needles are long enough for this job, so I cut the hardened steel nails again (Lowes molding & Trim Nails, Size 8D, item 532686) and used in place of the stock hex needles. Fuckin' Bingo.

Dremel Cutoff wheel works alright for this job, wear safety glasses dumb dumn.

I grinded it

Reach like a pro

The only thing that would make this tool work better is harder steel for the nails, as they have a tendency to flex a little. I had to trim these a couple times (once too short so I lost my reach, the next time just right) so they had less un-needed length. This stiffened them just enough to get the job done (HEYO).
This may very well be standard procedure but it confused the shit out of me so this is for all the snap ring noobs out there who may not know what tool to buy or where to buy it.