I had kinda screwed up as well and did not loosen them prior to disassembly and sending the shell off for resto. Put some screw eyes in a 4x6 to mount the arms to remove the upper joints. Good thing with the tacked one cause if it was still in the car fender damage with the cheater pipe would surely have happened when the tacks broke. As it happened I just landed on my *** and no other damage!