I think that is the cat. My bazooka was just two perforated tubes running parallel inside the big pipe. If you can find a hole saw the right diameter you can cut the welds with an electric drill. Or a little harder, use a Dremel tool with a steel cutting bit going one by one. There were only the 3 welds in the last quarter inch of pipe holding mine in. It was pretty easy to remove.
You'll need to rejet after removing it. It's pretty restrictive and since the carb is jetted lean to begin with, you're going to be way way lean.