Yeah I would down buy first then re-buy your cap. Its not compulsory to rebuy your ship, but you will be at a disadvantage.
I don`t think the admins will be doing re-enbursements. There are hundreds of caps on the server, its just too much work and with the way the server is setup, only one admin can work on the server at a time.
The other and much less enjoyable option is a complete server wipe. At the very least with this method your rep, loadout (you dont have to get rid of your guns) and some value from your current cap ship can be maintained.