ok. Today Shimano USA called me in response to a letter I wrote requesting 'good will replacements'. They basically said since i was not the original owner I was SOL. The guy was pleasant, and we chatted a bit; he explained that STI shifters are assembly by machines, not intended to ever be taken apart. I told him that all this greif could be avoided if they design in 'extraction holes' for this repair... we'll see if they do or not.
In the meantime, all seems to be well with my repair. I suspect there may be a few chips of metal floating around in there from drilling, which I hope won't cause problems, but all is well for now. I am attempting to attach some pix.....