It is not the wire as much as it is the weld, and heating the material up. Your best bet is to use a plasma or torch as stated above, and then blow through it. If the guy has a mill using a plug cutter should work. But with out a mill it is useless. Let us know how it turns out. question # 2? is it front or rear? If the front why not grind the outer c's off? cut and press them back on.... Seems like that would be easier.