That damper bolt you don't want coming loose, so there's normally a bit of thread locking compound on it. The factory stuff is designed to be loosned with hand tools, but if somebody's had the forks apart themselves before they might've gone with a really heavy-duty Loctite compound. Hence the angst in undoing it.
I've heard a lot of people say that if the forks are creased then they're toast. Sounds like you need to give a wreckers a call.
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