C clip removal wiper arms

[Bigtaku]

Has anyone successfully removed the small or larger C-Clips to disassemble the wiper arms on a late model roadster? I have been trying for several hours and hope there is a trick to it. Maybe a special tool? I have newer arms I bought on E-bay with unbroken parts on it I want to swap out, but first the C-Clips...
Looks like I will need to break them to remove at this time and I really don't want to do that.
Thanks in advance
Mike

[Nissanman]

From memory the factory C clips are nothing more than a piece of wire wrapped around the shaft in side a groove.
Once you unpick them they will not retain any spring tension anyway.
So, what I do is use some circlip pliers or jewelers screwdrivers to remove the wire clip and when re-assembling, use a decent external circlip with holes for pliers.

[Bigtaku]

My daughters boyfriend managed to get C-Clips off and we used the old ones again after the undamaged parts were replaced. They are made of flat steel and didn't to mangled up. What a pain though...