Just an update and a solution to this just in case anyone has a similar problem in the future. I searched forever online going through pages and pages of forums and links but this was unique and there was nothing. Nippon wanted $380 plus tax (which brought it to $414), Mr. Ritter was very prompt with his email reply but basically he couldn't go by pictures and needed to see the camera which needed to be shipped to him, I also asked at Calumet which was close to Nippon and they quoted me $75 and couldn't promise me a fix. Both Nippon and Calumet stated they had no spare parts.
So I just took another good look at it and took it apart. Ive done a few camera repairs before on smaller cameras and some without service manuals or guides, and this didnt seem that different.
The first thing you need to do is remove the front standard. Pull out the standard and bellows so you have enough clearance to reach and remove the two top locks for the front bellow section. Once you have that off, carefully place bellows back into the main body of the camera. The camera manual has an illustrated guide for this.
To remove the front standard, unlock and rack out the focusing rail so that there is a good two inch gap of free space in the back of the rail. Squeeze and push the front standard bottom lock, and push back toward body housing area and it should come off the rails easily.
Now that you have the front standard off, you can actually get to work on it. Loosen the top of the U shaped standard (left screw) and adjust the right screw so that the front tilt moves the base of the lens holder away from the bottom U bracket standard. This gives you clearance to access screw holes.
Mine was really tight but, you have to turn the rise up just a few mm as it exposes two screws in the front lens holder area. These two screws hold two metal axle holders, which in turn hold the rise axle against the U bracket standard tightly. Because they are hidden when the front rise is all the way down, it took me some time to find as my front rise was really stuck well.
Ok, once you have removed both those black screws with a flathead screwdriver, 90 degrees toward the bottom of the lens holder there are two hidden long set screws. Be very careful with them, they are very soft, and have some sort of old brown thread locker on them. When you unscrew these two, the two axle holders, axle, pinion gears, and thumb screw knobs will come out as a set.
Thankfully that piece was not bent, as it was stuck in that bent position for such a long time, freeing it unjammed the movement and I was able to unscrew the locking thumb knob. The locking collar around the axle has very little shift and its adjustment in hindsight probably wasnt needed, but I took out the 2 (supposed to be 3) set screws anyway to see. I unscrewed the left locking thumb screw knob, it acts to put friction against that left side of the front standard to lock rise height. The right thumb screw knob is for rise adjustment after you release the left side, but its screw needs thread locker to work correctly or it will just unscrew. My camera arrived with this right knob freely turning on the axle, I applied blue loctite which can be broken by mechanical force and is not permanent. This is the only type I would use on cameras, I would stay away from the ones that require heat to break the bond as well.
The tracks on the standard and pinion gear wheels were very dirty, and I brushed them gently and wiped them down with naphtha. I applied a very light coat of white lithium grease to the gear, and wiped of the excess. I repositioned the rise assembly, and loosely tightened the two black screws in the front and worked the movement. When all was ok, I tightened the two black screws in the front and re-tightened the two long set screws. Dont over tighten the black front screws as this puts way to much pressure on that axle and pinion gears against that standard and locks up the movement.
Ive attached some images that help with this guide. No hammering needed!!
