Fungus/mould in lens - worth repairing?

Hi all

I bought my girlfriend a P30t with an old Pentax A 28-80 f3.5-4.5 lens, unfortunately there is a lot of mould on the glass and was hence 'sold as seen', and I was really just after the camera body.

Does anyone know how difficult it would be for an amateur like me to have a go at cleaning this lens? I've heard ensuring that the elements form an accurate column can be difficult. I don't have any specialist tools for the job, but am happy to go and buy a few if they're not too expensive. I'm also reasonably technicaly minded, but have yet to try fixing any photo gear myself (I've never had any need to previously, as if it ain't broke, don't fix it!) I could send it for repair, but I'm not sure if it makes economic sense to do so, and I hate waste so I'm certainly not just throwing it out.

There isn't a great deal to lose, as the lens is in pretty poor shape optically (but good mechanically), but I've heard it's a good lens (it's the one with really light focus ands zooming action) and so I'd like to get it fixed.

My question is, do I stand even a slight chance of fixing it myself? If not, does anyone know of a place where I could get it fixed for a reasonable amount? I live in Bath, and everything seems quite expensive in this neck of the woods.

All advice gratefully received.

Matt

I think the lens sounds as if it is a goner, so there could be nothing to lose by opening it up and having a look! I tried it once and ended up with an interesting asortment of mysterious pieces of metal, screws and sundry items of indeterminate function.......

But you might have more skill and/or luck that me!

Thanks for comments John, who knows, perhaps the lens will work better without all those screws that are left!

I will probably have a try next weekend. Do you know how to actually clean the lens elements? Just standard lens cleaner? There's so much mould in there it might be worth my while getting the lawnmower on it.....


Cheers

Matt