That needle seat problem is very fixable- - - -make a couple more posts to get access to private messages, or drop me an email (in my profile).
Jerry

Edit: I found three reasonably-priced rebuildable cores on Ebay in about 15 minutes of searching. "It ain't rocket surgery" to get the right part and avoid all the Rube Goldberg tinkering.

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!