Ok, I have searched the forums assuming this must be a very common problem. Maybe not as common as I have assumed.
Anyway, I went to pull my radio and climate control unit for a couple of reasons - radio no longer works and the slider on the climate control to move from vent to defroster is binding or seized.
Once I removed the trim plate I discovered a few things that did not brighten my day. The 7mm screw hole brackets with the exception of two were broken - the screws were just sitting in the broken holes. In addition, the blue bracket on the top of the climate control unit that holds the cable sheath so that the lever properly transitions from vent to heater to defrost was also broken (non-a/c). My personal thanks to the cretin that broke everything.
Has anyone been able to engineer and effective fix to these problems or do I need to search for unbroken 34 year old plastic parts? The metal bracket that fits into console is readily available but none that I have found have the plastic mounts. It appears to me that the mounts are somehow attached to the back of the metal frame.
No answer for you but I know the mounting holes for my radio disintegrated years ago. Luckily the radio sits in place nicely and is held secure by the faceplate. My guess is the reason they tended to get trashed is that the original Delco radios were pieces of sh!t and needed to be pulled out so often. I tried to keep mine original and I believe I went through three of the original radios before I gave up and put a typhoon in there. Best thing I ever did to that car.
Thanks Andrew for your input. I did not figure there was an easy answer for this. My radio does stay quite solid with the faceplate installed but the climate control unit moves due to the pressure applied to move the vent direction. I'll probably take a plastic bonder and rebuild the tabs using what is left of the originals, drill small pilot holes and carefully mount the control unit by rethreading the screw holes in the epoxy tabs. It's worth a try. Small pieces of fiberglass cloth or screen may work too. No doubt it will be trial and error.