A long flat blade screw driver works well to remove the cats, they are not difficult to remove. The biggest difference to the heat issue and freeing up the engine is the removal of the "solid" baffle and free flowing air filter, the noise increase is also not too dramatic. I think the best advice is to remove that baffle first, drive and then decide if you want to remove the rear baffle, drive again and if you want remove the middle baffle. In my case I removed the front baffle then drove for a season, then decided to remove the rear baffle, great performance lovely noise no heat and cost $60. Yes, use the drill to remove the baffles do not attempt to knock them out.
I had two front baffles and two rear baffles.
Put a small amount of never seize on the pipe connections to make it easier to remove and replace.
