Frank thanks: the solution was cut off the ends of the inner shaft which slides inside the outer shaft, drill new holes, new pins and turn the gear over to use the pin hole on the other side and that seems to have fixed it. I have lots of bolts for pins, but taking the belly pan on and off is a pain. I'm an expert now after doing this.;)
As for the black tank handle-try a bag or a couple of bags of ice drive for a bit and let them rattle around in there and see if you can knock free whatever is jamming your valve. If your tank is empty maybe letting the ice cubes rattle through the valve opening will free it up.
If it works a cheap fix.
