Yeah, I gave up on disassembling it further. I managed to mangle it to death with pliers, twist it off and finish it off with sandpaper :D works a treat :)
Would it suffice to just turn it anti-clockwise a bit so that you can regulate the temperature in a 2-"8" range? or 3-"9"? Who needs 1-2 anyway?
I'm trying not to take it apart too much so I don't screw this up.