Large Scale Central

Critter Kadees

I am putting Kadees on my Aristocraft Critter.

I was able to umount the couplers and get them off but I got stopped there. There is a metal piece that keeps the coupler in place but it’s in the way of the Kadees. Shall I just use wire cutters and cut off the metal piece? With my poor eyesight that would make my life simpler but is there another way to do this?