As many have mentioned, the three springs at the front of the primary muffler are a bugger. 'Home made and handy', some of you may remember that title from an old farming magazine, here's something simple but worked well:
used a length of 3/16" diameter mild steel rod, bent a hook using a vice and ball peen hammer, turned on its side and hammer from both sides to flatten/narrow the hook end (allows for easier insertion and removal from alongside the mounting loops). If I had a welder I would have bent a loop on the handle end and welded in place. One could also make the hook end more pretty by grinding a point and/or smoothing the edges.
It still takes a good tug to extend the springs but you don't have to worry about your ViseGrip(tm) or other pliers coming off of the spring and resulting skinned knuckles or cuts and contusions.
Wayne
