No ,I left all the mesh in place. I did it with an air hammer on about 10 sets of pipes. Nology (I apologise if I spelled that wrong)tried it my way and had no luck though. I did 1 set of pipes with a piece of 5/8 round stock from the header end but I don't reccomend that. It worked just fine but was very difficult.I didn't even hurt the reducer when I did it though.

I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!