Manitou 3 refurbishment project

Hmmm, so I want to fit a retro fork to the front of my girls 'secret' SS project bike (i found it by the side of the road a few days ago and will get it mostly sorted while she's away on business). Nothing special, a steel Scott, low end, from the early 90's, but I digress...

I've got two pairs of Manitou 3's sitting around waiting to be cleaned, sorted and used or sold. They both need a fair bit of work, so I wondered if anyone could help with the following:

1 - a bent skewer, the bit that is the kebab stick of the elastomer kebab! Any spares or tips for straightening?

2 - Bushes - fair amount of play in one fork, moderate in the other. They seem to be the small split circles by the looks of the manual - anyone got a source or cunning substitute?

3 - Seals - Almost certainly never changed on either fork (one was mine from new, another inherited!) so would be good to get some new. Again - any sources? Someone seemed to have sorted some for 1/2's, and someone used a motorcycle shop but didn't say if they were for 1/2/3...

4 - Stancions. Probably the most difficult problem. All four have the black coating ('dye' in the manual - is this true?!) worn off around the seal area 360 degrees, but one of them seems to have gone further through the silver to a slightly different shade of silver below (or it could be that area is just more scratched, but its definitely not as smooth as the surrounding silver). So - is there a source of replacements, has anyone tried getting i.e. steel ones machined, are ti ones available like they were for the 1/2? Would it be possible to cut a thread inside the bottom of the stancion and turn it upside down? Or can they carry on working OK even when the black has gone (albeit look a bit rubbish, guess I need to dig out the shock boots too).

Steerers, crowns and legs are practically mint, so it seems a shame to just ditch them. I'd love at least one working pair from the two, could bring myself to get rid of one as spares/repairs (or keep myself) if I could get just one working...

Amazingly, there seems to be just one split elastomer between them, and as I have a moderate pie of spares I reckon there should be enough none solid ones to get both forks running again!

Finally - I tried getting an englund cartridge direct a while back, even sent credit card details for the last one they had on the shelf but it turned out it was incomplete so the deal fell through :-( Do these still come up, and would they be worth buying 2nd hand to retrofit?

Any hints, tips, pics of your Manitou 3 refurb jobs gratefully received! And happy to swap some bits if it looks like we can get some forks working between us if you need something I have and vice versa...

Ian

1 = as long as they are only "bent" and not kinked , you could straighten them as much as possible by hand , then roll them on a flat surface with something flat/heavy on top

2 = could be machined from some nylon bar stock , if you know someone with the nylon stock and a lathe

3 = big problem , enduro ( an american company) does them for rock shox and used to do some for manitou , still do them for the later manitou , could be a suitable replacement there , just never looked into it

4 = worn ones can still be used , just a bit more stiction , did think about getting mine nickel plated , if you know any electro plating firms they should be able to do this (this is the first stage in the chroming process , as it gives a better finish to the chrome) as i think chroming them would add too much thickness
as for turning them upside down , you will find the bottom end is closed off , with a hole for the compression rod to pass through to bolt onto the legs

so basically , a whole lot of work

Agree with Slims comments. I would be surprised if the bushes are worn though, sloppy action usually means the botton bush hasnt located properly allow the bottom end of the leg to flap about and cause the deep scoring on the stanchions that you mention. Answer offered a lifetime warranty on the bushes. If they are worn then your only option is to get some made at your local engineering firm.
If you know the spec of the seals then they are available - somewhere, probably the US or a good bearing and seal supplier.
Stanchions - I am looking into a source for these, although proper stanchions are expensive. Cheaper options are robbing ones off cheap late forks that use 1 1/8 legs and having inserts welded into the bottom of them, or use ornamental polished tube, 28.6 seatposts, etc etc. Or have your existing ones refinished, but that doesnt come cheap either.
It all depends on how good you want them to be, how original you want them, and how much money you want to spend.
Cheapest option for you would probably be to buy some good ones off the Bay (they do come up quite often for reasonable money, especially in the states) and sell me the 2 sets of duff ones.
HTH