Thanks for the reply Randy. A lot of good info has been lost in the form of pictures. This is why I always try to use a photo hosting website when posting photos to forums. Even if an imbedded picture does not show up in the thread, the link is usually shown and an interested person could copy and past it into their browser and view the photo on the photo hosting website. It also allows you to maintain control over your pictures and easily re-post.
Back to the 520....
I found this picture in this thread and also read about drilling out the weld around the pipe, then removing pipe. I thought this was a bit more elegant than simply drilling another hole...... so I fired up the drill press and drilled out the weld with a 3/4" bit using the pipe as a guide.
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/echo-cs-520-advice.167707/page-2
The top weld drilled out ok but it turns out the base of the tube was pressed/swagged into the internal baffles of the muffler. So obviously I decided to proceed with a chisel and hammer which resulted in said chisel coming out the bottom of muffler.
Figuring I was buying a new muffler I went ahead and ground off the seam and tried to split the muffler. Turns out the access tubes to the bolts that hold the muffler to the cylinder are also swagged onto the front of the muffler. Drilled those out and the muffler came apart.
This is the first muffler I tried to split and I learned one way not to do. I am going to try and MIG weld the halves back together just to see if it works for future saws.
The new muffler was $60 and I will prob just drill a hole below the pipe and call it a day.
