Unusual error with Canonet QL19

Hello everyone,

 

I just tried to fix the sticky aperture blades issue, and had successfully managed to take the rear element out and the very front one, but not the inner front group. Ended up just setting the camera to bulb mode and swiping the behind of the aperture blades and started to see some pretty good progress.

 

However, after a while the aperture ring started to jam up and get extremely stiff and im not sure what happened - too much fluids dissolved the lubricants? The aperture blades seem to work fine when using A mode but are still sticky when using the dial, which again is way too stiff to use and im not sure how to go about fixing this issue or what i should do next.

 

Thanks

Do you think it might help to put a suction cup on the lens and use that to help pull it out? Also, can you push it out from the rear (through the open aperture blades?) German cameras have a tight fit but I'm not sure if Japanese cameras are built to the same tolerances. Good luck.