[Duke]

The trick to bending (or straightening) aluminum is to Anneal it first. Rub some soap on the metal form a bar of soap. Heat up the component until the soap goes black, then bent it carefully. It will easy to bend/straighten a small amount then it will work harden and require more pressure. Stop reapply the soap and reheat, then bend some more.
If you just go and try to bend it without first annealing the material it will move a bit and then snap.

I have found that if you anneal it as the final action, then when you next fall of the lever will have more of a chance to bend and survive without fracture.

This comes from off road experience where i tend to bend bits quite often!

Duke