Tool Tip Installing Delco snap rings BY BOB THOMAS Beers has their own method for installing those pesky snap rings on armature shafts. I know that Delco snap rings are the least of our worries. Not only are they the easiest to install, but there have been many special tools sold specifically for dealing with them. But a retired line mechanic from a local Cadillac dealership showed me a trick that he used. (Yes, believe it or not, back in the 1960s and 1970s, GM operated training centers that taught, among other things, repairing starters and alternators that were used on their vehicles.) The only tool you need to install the Delco snap ring is the old starter drive and a small hammer. As shown in the photos, place a second starter drive on the armature shaft upside down over the new drive, the snap ring collar and the snap ring. Hold the new drive with one hand. The weight of the armature will hold the snap-ring collar and the snap ring tightly against each other (see Figure 1). Then, with your free hand, use the hammer to lightly tap the base of the upside down drive. You do not have to hit it hard—just a quick light tap (see Figure 2). Give it a try. It is a quick method that can work with some other loose-fitting snap rings, too. Figure 1—Parts are stacked up and * ie * Figure 2—One light tap is all that it takes. Page 1