[Leica] M3, very low rangefinder patch brightness

[geordiepete211 at yahoo.co.uk (Peter Cheyne)]

I have been using an M6 for just over a year and today I bought an  
M3.  My M6 has a lovely, contrasty RF patch.
The M3 is in very nice condition, but when I put lenses on it, I see  
that the RF patch is very ghostly in comparison to
the VF image.  I am disappointed because I expected it to be easy to  
focus my 50mm and 135mm lenses on the M3.
Right now my M3 can be used to focus only contrasty edges of subjects,  
and is almost impossible to focus on a person's
eye.

I understand that the RF patch might have faded over time.  My M3 was  
made in 1955.  So I have two questions.
1.  Is the low brightness on the M3's RF patch due to its fading over  
time?
2.  How can this be repaired? (And at what cost?)
I live in Japan, but will be going to the UK for Christmas, so perhaps  
a company I have heard of (CRR?) in Luton
might be able to repair the RF for me.

Thanks for reading,

Peter