Yep thats carnage right there, dunno about any advanced enginneering. It's pretty common for one fork leg to have different functions and contents from the other, dont stress about it. As for the repairs, well dont spend any money on it unless you really have to. You may find you can pull another suitable cap off a dead bike or fork, I'm assuming its a RST or Suntour? Thier pretty common, you should find one somewhere. If not then your going to need a, cue the fanfare ....NEW FORK, . I'm sure there's lots of people here who can advise you on a good choice of fork or parts near you better than I can.

Good luck, (and lose the vice grips)