Hi Ted, great, we will be looking forwards to how it goes for you, yes, bending a pivot is very possible, dont force anything!!!, you want all the other gears wheels, levers, to stay put as you turn the wheel with the lifting star otherwise the train can set up the warning different and you end up chasing your tail, close observation of where everything is at and imagining where you need to adjust to before attempting will also help, may take a few tries to get it just right. just remember trials and tribulations builds character. 
Also a good book I found on strike trains = “striking clock repair guide” by Steven G. Conover, I am sure there are many other good books, just the one I ended up with and have learned alot from. covers many styles of strike mechanisms, William
