I broke one of the small snaprings on the countershaft that holds some of the gears in (yes I know thats pretty vague) The local Honda dealers don't have anything in stock..would a normal snapring from say..a hardware store work ok in this application?

 

I would not take the chance of using a hardware store snap ring. The one from the factory is most likely heat treated being that it is tranny related part- counter shaft. The hardware store part is probably cheap and would not take the abuse. When in doubt use factory parts they now best.

 

If you can find one the same size use it. All they are made of is spring steel.

 

Hey Dill, you might try a foreign auto parts store. They may have Metric snap rings. you could also go to a MC Salvage but that might take a lot of time. depends on how much time you have as far as ordering it from Honda. you could also buy the trans parts I showed you the other night
Good luck
Slimedog
Lew Malotte
88 LT250R
00 400EX

 

well as far as it being heat treated, I doubt it, it snapped rather easily..I did get one from the hardware store that fits, and appears much stonger than that factory one, taking it off alone doesn't snap it like the original did.

 

Maybe I'm wrong with this, but heat treating a piece of metal gives it a hard outer layer, deeper if it is heated longer, and vice versa. I would think heat treating a snap ring which needs to be flexible, would be the wrong way to go. A heat treated piece of steel is supposed to be more rigid and not be able to bend. Any thoughts on this?

 

my thoughts exactly