You know those hard to remove arched metal clips with a hole in the middle that are pushed on to the posts of trim and other pieces to keep them firmly attached to the radio cabinet? Is there a correct/easy way to remove them without damage? And what are they called? Couldn't find any images doing a Google "metal clip" search. I need to replace the speaker cloth and to do that the trim has to come off which is held on by 4 of these clips. Radio is an Emerson Model 520 with Catalin case. Don't want to mess that up! Thanks. Steve H.

They are called Push Nuts.

Never found an easy way to remove them. Some dig in, others can be wiggled off.

I believe they are called Tinnerman nuts. There was a tool made at one time to remove them that sort of looks like a wine corkscrew, but they are rare and hard to find. Most people usually use dental picks or hooks to get under the wings, pull up on them and unscrew them.

Thanks guys. Looks like slowly and carefully is the way to go.

Check out this old post:

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Hi Steel Wheels,
You have already received some good advice above about dealing with these Tinnerman nuts. I can only add this:

If I were dealing with a high-quality plastic-cabinet radio, especially a Catalin, I would not take the slightest chance of breaking the plastic stud in trying to remove a Tinnerman nut. Instead cut the sheet-metal nut using a thin cut-off disc in a Dremel-type tool and discard it. Replacement Tinnerman nuts are readily available and cheap. Make several quick passes with the cut-off disc, allowing time for the sheet-metal nut to cool in between, so as to avoid heat damaging/distorting the plastic mounting stud.

Michael, that was a very interesting thread. Thanks. And thankfully I was dealing with brass studs on this radio so it was slightly less scary. After 45 minutes and lots of prying with two very small flat bladed screw drivers and a little help from a needle nose pliers three of the T. nuts were off. The last one however was very stubborn. After some time-out for contemplation, I thought maybe squeezing it with the pliers from the long ends would arch it even more and relieve the clamping effect around the stud. Instead it snapped in half and had the stud been plastic it too may have broken. All in all a happy ending. Thank you all for your info and support. Steve H.