Can anyone tell me the procedure for disassembling a Nikon Series E 70-210mm lens. The old girl has got some mold and dust on the internal optics, and if possible I would like to get rid of it. Any help would be most welcome.
First of all I would suggest you get the proper cross point screwdrivers as the screws Nikon often used can be rather tight and easy to strip out using an incorrect driver. Proper lens spanners are essential as well.
I managed to clean the fungus from all the elements in a 75-150mm Nikon Series E without too much difficulty just using step by step intuition and some general zoom lens guidance from a Timosy repair booklet; peel back the rubber grip material, remove the proper screws from the front and rear of lens, etc. I'd offer you more specifics but I did not take notes on that one. It was not as difficult as some might say about zoom lenses in general. If you spin off the focusing helicoid it will probably be a hassle to get it back on correctly (I finally got mine on on correctly after 15 minutes of trial & error).
It would seem that many of these Nikon lenses have attracted fungus compared to other brands (?). I have acquired several Nikon lenses with that problem; more than one a Series E. Poor storage possibly by prior owners or just from an area with very humid climate.
I now use a can of 'Dust-Off' compressed air to help get rid of the dust particles on each lens prior to its re-installation. That's one solution or at least a worthwhile supplement. Hard to get-em all!
I hope you get the details you need from others in this forum, otherwise you might ask again via an Internet Nikon user group.
