woohoo got it!!

looking around the house I saw my wife's mop. It had a three piece handle that fit together by using an inside compression type fitting in that as you tightened it up the male (inside) piece expanded inside the female (outer) piece. It just so happened it was EXACTLY the right size to fit inside the damping rod. IT came off no problem!!

But, when removing the damper rod an extra spring (besides the top out spring) came out of my fork tube. Here's a pic: anyone know what this is? top out spring on the right, little unknown spring on the left