Help! We cannot find anything about this anywhere and are hoping someone on this site can help. We decided to tear down and re-cement the seams on our 1989 Dutchwest XL Convection 288CL because cement pieces have been falling out the past few years as well as needing to replace the cat bypass gasket. We were doing well until we got to the sides, and found that the pin that goes through the gate crank and gate rod was not budging. This holds the gate rod which must first be removed before the crank can be released and the sides removed. We have tried pure force with a punch and mallet on the bottom of the pin, vise grips to pull on the top of the pin...no success. Next, we are using penetrating oil to loosen rust and have done many applications and then tried to punch again, but to no avail. There doesn't seem to be any space between the pin and sides of the hole for anything to drain into. This thing seems to be frozen. We have this model's tear-down written instructions from Monessen Hearth Systems who bought out Vermont Castings. It is fairly detailed, but doesn't cover what happens when you encounter something like this. I have photos:
