I knew an old guy when I was a kid who owned a local carburetor and distributor shop. He had ALL kinds of now defunct and impossible to find tools. He had a tool for those clips. It looked similar to a pair of needle nose pliers, but had very small, blunt ends with a hole drilled in each end. It made quick work of those clips.
One day, when I'm really patient, that would be cool tool to make our of a cheap needle nose. Probably have to anneal the steel so it was a soft before trying to drill.