slides frozen on 26vm's

ok, a little background. i bought my 77 kz1000ltd for $100 from a guy because he had no title for it. it was last on the road in 1984. the motor turned over by the kickstarter so i figured i got me a great project bike.while i am still buying parts and getting all the machine work i want done i decided to tinker with the carbs.they are stock 26mm so i am looking for reasonable priced 29 smoothbores for it.i never really got to deep into carb work so i figure i got a good practice set to play with.(i have 26's on my 650 so any knowalge would help)only one slide moved.i cannot even move the other three by gently prying with a screwdriver.2 floats were so crappy that i cannot get the little rods that hold the floats out without damageing them. so i guess my question is , any ideas how to free up the slides? also, any idea where i can get the rods to hold the floats? these are so tarnished i don't even think wg would say they are worth anything. be nice guys! i'm just trying to teach myself about these carbs since it is one of the last areas on a bike i have not attempted to much so far.i'm not trying to run these, i just want to be able to say i did it. thanks everyone!