Hey everyone! I'm in the process of replacing my fork seals. When I got to the seal removal I realized that the retaining clips were heavily rusted. As such there is quite a bit of build up in the clip grooves inside the forks. Any recommendations on the best way to remove the rust from the grooves without damaging anything in the seal area? I've got some loctite naval gel, would that be ok to use if I only placed it in the clip grooves?

If you can find it, try Krud Kutter - The Must for Rust.  Water based. I used it on many places on my bike and it removed rust while not hurting anything else, even paint. I drip it on or brush it on with an old toothbrush, let it sit for a bit and come back with the brush to help get the debris out and then rinse with water.