Need Brushes for Raymarine Type 1 Linear Drive (Autohelm)

[Raven]

I contacted Raymarine via their online "customer support" page to find out how I can go about getting replacement brushes for my Type 1 linear drive.

Here is the question I posed for them:
Customer (Kevin Rose) 04/07/2007 05:38 PM I am looking for replacement brushes for my Type 1 Linear Drive. Please tell me what information is needed to obtain replacements, as well as contact information for placing the order. Thank you.

Here is the response I received today:
Response (George Martin) 04/09/2007 03:11 PM Sorry but we do not stock brushes for these motors, you may be able to take the brushes you have to a DC motor rebuild shop and have them cross referenced and replaced but you will not get them from us.

Does this seem a bit odd? Given that you can send in your old drive to have it "reconditioned," (to the tune of $700), how can that be done if they do not stock brushes? Do they simply throw out the motor if the brushes (which are removeable and replaceable) go bad?

Well, I've already determined that it will be fruitless to try and get anything more from Raymarine. Do any of you know of a source for brushes? Any leads on where to begin the search?