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Heat and 50/50 ATF/acetone usually works for me. Add time to the equation too.

Based on the pic it appears that thee hinge PINS are well exposed. Buck one end of the hinge pin with a heavy body dolly or similar chunck of steel and strike the other end of the hinge pic with a hammer and then swap ends.

Assuming that u have already soaked it well soaked with snake oil, now switch to engine oil instead. Patience is the key. All else fails then u'll have to heat it.

Thanks to all for the rust suggestions. A combination of several seems to have finally done the trick.

A suggestion for anyone with a car that has sat for years or doesn't get the vent exercised regularly: Get a small pin oiler you can squeeze and work horizontally. Prepare yourself for a fight to reach the location and then put a drop or two of oil on each hinge. There is not much more than a spotweld holding the hinge to the sheetmetal. If yours should bind like this one did, one time you try to open the vent the hinge could separate or bend and then you have a problem. All the other joints on the hood release or vent release levers could also benefit greatly from a drop or two.

I had asked earlier if anyone had any thoughts on what color the levers under the dash were painted originally. After cleaning up a lot of rust off a couple of the assemblies I decided what was left of the paint -- on this car at least -- was a grey/brown color. Found a Rustoleum spray called London Gray in a satin finish. The original might have been a flat finish but to my eyes this color looks very passable.

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Made a repair attempt on the gearshift lever. Guess we'll see how well it works at some point in the future. If it doesn't hold up, nothing but a couple of hours time lost.

Removed the rest of the broken tab but only as much as needed to square the end a bit better. It is still a little odd shaped but wanted to leave as much original material as possible. Machined a scrap of steel to make a ledge to fit over the break. The main part is screwed to the remaining lever with stainless steel screws where I could tap into sound metal. The double thickness part or ledge is duplicating the broken piece. Since the added thickness wouldn't allow use of the cotter key on the pin, that is now held by a setscrew.

The damage is on the bottom and isn't generally seen so should be hidden most of time. The rubber boot fits over nicely and even though it looks lumpy, it isn't any worse than the undamaged top side.

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Howard, that's really very nice and clever workmanship.

Very nice work, but I would expect nothing less.

Howard, I've been told by reliable sources that Randy licks his lips in anticipation.

Nice. Did you use any locktite or other glue with the screws?

Excellent!

Thanks, all. Hopefully it works but will be a while before finding out. Debated some JB Weld under the plate and to fill in a couple of open spaces along the edges but decided only locktite for now.