Sway bar brackets

I just picked up a sway bar for my dart so I can get it safety inspected soon. I bought a used one as I'm not planning on high speed cornering and wanted to save a few bucks as I'm way over budget. It seems that ever time I try to save a dollar it costs me ten because I get screwed over by some unscrupolus SOB. I hope this didn't happen again. One of the brackets on the sway bar was bent and the rubber bushing was shot. He gave me a b body say bar with good brackets and bushings and said they would swap over no problem. So far it had been a B*$TCH of a morning and I haven't come close to getting the bracket over the flared end of the sway bar. Can I cut them off and get replacements or is there a trick to getting them off. I feel like throwing them through the front window of his truck at this point. GRRRRRRRRR