At this point I vote for a free standing thread holder accessory and just run the thread over the top of the machine rather than mess with it or mar the door any more.
The only clue I have to the bent needle bar was some lint impacting the bobbin area (looked like upholstery) and a bit of matching really heavy sick green upholstery fabric in the mix. Maybe they figured that machine would sew anything. Could have been a lot of weight or maybe they tried to pull the material through as they were sewing. Yeah I had to replace the needle plate. I have a longer list of things to look at when I evaluate a sewing machine... That needle hit the foot - I tried adjusting/centering the needle to no avail - I couldn't see the bend in the needle until it was out. Then it was very visible. Works great now. My sister sat next to me with the manual and we figured it out. I had timed a needle plenty of times so got it pretty quickly. We also "practiced" on the parts machine...