Well wouldn't you know it. I used two wood blocks in the vice, I got out my hard rubber/plastic mallet and got it cinched down nice and tight. I even took a lot of time to mark with a sharpie the exact spot to strike it.
Gave it a nice sharp rap.. pulled it out of the vice and found I created an opposite bend on the threaded part (when the orginal bend was above the threaded part) about twice as severe as the original bend creating a nice "S" curve.
Fortunately I was able to use almost the exact amount of force, and a few taps on the opposite side to get it back to straight. Then I had to go to work trying to correct the bend higher up. It required a lot of light taps while holding it against a wood block with my hand at just the right spot. The vice ended up being pretty much useless. I got a much better and it is good enough you'd probably never notice it during normal adjutstment when attached to the drum. But when it is off the drum and you turn it rapidly you can still detect a bend. Although I would never be able to determine exactly where to hit it anymore. It is that close.
Anyway here is the finished product next to the original photo from the ebay ad where I purchased it.
Steps followed were:
1. disassemble
2. Soak in dishwashing liquid for 36 hours
3. rinse and clean with paper towel
4. scrub trouble spots with aluminum foil
5. scrub even greater trouble spots with 0000 steel wool.
6. Polish with simichrome
7. grease moving parts with lithium white
8. re assemble
[IMG]http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48043&stc=1&d=1347133215[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48044&stc=1&d=1347133240[/IMG]