Remove rusted screw from bath tub overflow/drain stop lever plate

[Retired home maker]

We have a very old Moen shower/tub faucet. The tub drain stop is contoled by a small lever in the center of the overflow plate. The trip lever broke. We are trying to replace the lever. After much WD-40, one screw is removed and it showed very bad rust and corrosion. We are having a lot of problem with the other screw. The head of the screw is already ruined by the philip screw driver. I searched on the 'homerepairlive' and don't find an answer to my question. How do I remove this screw? What tools do I need? Thanks.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

A spiral screw extractor will do the trick. Here's an example:

You drill a hole into the head of the screw, twist the extractor into place, and it grips what's left of the screw so you can remove it. Hard to explain, but easy to understand once you've got the tool in your hand. However: Since you'll be replacing the assembly anyway, you can probably just drill out the entire screw. Who cares how much it (and the surrounding plate) are mangled? Start with a small bit, then work up in size until what's left is destroyed. Put some paper towels over the drain to keep shard of metal from tangling with hair and creating yet another problem in the drain. Or, don't do that, and amaze your spouse with obscenities from other solar systems.