Ja Ayres

Brian and Greg:   There is no lock nut on the shaft.  The photo shows the shaft that needs to be replaced. On the right-hand end of the shaft, it goes through a plate and on the other side, at the end of the shaft there is a 1/4" square that fits into the damper bar such that when you turn the shaft it turns the damper bar which then lifts up the damper.  It is the most screwball design and is actually designed and constructed backwards from what it should be. Totally stupid.
But my problem still revolves around how to remove the shaft in the photo above. It appears to thread into something through the plate, but after soaking for two days and banging and heating I still have not made a dent in making this piece move at all.  If I knew how it went in, I would be able to get it out in a flash. The shaft is shaped like a "Z" when it goes through the plate and connects to the damper bar. The shaft must have to remove from the "Z" portion or the shaft could never go into its location.
Here are a couple of more pics.

Greg:  No, that is not a good diagram for my stove.

Hi All:
On my VC Seneca 2170 stove, the metal shaft that opens and closes the damper broke off at the outside end where the handle attaches to it. This makes the stove completely useless.  I contacted the company and have ordered a new shaft, but cannot get the old one out
The biggest problem is that I cannot tell if the shaft is threaded on or not, to the lever that connects to the damper. I have tried numerous times to turn the shaft using vise grips, but it seems just frozen. And I do not know for sure if it turns clockwise or counter-clockwise.
I would appreciate any and all ideas on how to remove the shaft.  I was told that it will take up to 6 weeks to get the new shaft----BOY VC has REALLY SHAFTED me on that one.  No heat for 6 weeks in dead winter?  Not fair I say.
Attached is a photo with an arrow pointing to the offending shaft.