Standard heater controls repair.
 

I went with Vintage Air and changed out my stock heater controls to the Factory Air type. I had a defective one in my truck I thought I would attempt to fix. Like many the stamped steel frame work had come loose from the aluminum bezel. The aluminum pein job had pulled through and there was no fixing it. Not reliability anyway. By now we have likely all seen bezels with screws going through from the front. I though what the heck I will give it a try as it was junk otherwise. So, I did one side and came up with a better fix half way through.

By now the knobs were the only thing holding the two halves together. So I pulled the knobs off so I could separate the two parts. I filed the nubs down enough so I could get the metal backing plate back on. I didn't go flush; the nubs were still there to locate the backing plate. Then I drilled it with a #33 drill. This is the size for a 6-32 X 1/4" screw. No knowing any better I did go completely through with two of the screws but quickly figured out there was enough aluminum to thread. So, I just drilled the next two holes till I encountered the glued-on face plate. Then I threaded the hole with a 6-32 bottom tap being careful not to force the face-plate out. By inserting the screws from the back side, the repair was undetectable from the front. Even if you go through the face plate the 6/32 holes are small and not that noticeable.
I am including pictures of the repair. You can see the damage caused by the loose backing plate. Not for a show truck but will keep um going for the price of a few screws. I was happy with how it turned out. Functional but ugly.

Re: Standard heater controls repair.
 

Nice. I'll keep that in mind for when mine lets go someday (probably sooner rather than later).

Re: Standard heater controls repair.
 

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I have repaired a couple of them.

I bought a heater control repair kit. It had the new levers and a decal sheet for the face of the unit. I drilled holes all the way through the face and countersunk the holes on the front panel. I then put small flat head screws in to hold it all together and applied the new decal to the front. Use the smallest screws you can and when you countersink the holes keep trying the flat head screws and stop when the heads are flush with the surface. I had really good luck with this and you can't tell it was repaired.

Can't beat Accelo's for a quick repair though....

LockDoc

Re: Standard heater controls repair.
 

I didn't know I could get the decal. I started the repair like you did and was going pull the decal. However, it was not coming off easy even with heat. Since I didn't know it was replaceable I went with the screws from the back style repair. The chrome was suspect on this bezel. Interesting that none of the levers were broken. The repair made it a functional drivers control panel. However, it is still ugly. LOL.