...I have never seen a freewheel where the top bearing race thingie was not left hand thread. So you would need to loosen it by turning clockwise with your punch and hammer.
This is usually not an operation worth doing. There are a lot of tiny bearings in there, and some pawl springs of fine wire. All of them tend to go all over the place when you open it up.

The only time I take them off is when I'm forced to do a destructive freewheel removal. Otherwise, clean by immersion in kerosene or mineral spirits (or an ultrasonic cleaner), let dry, then re-lubricate using a 20-30 weight oil. BUt since you posted that in September, I guess you did what you were trying to do already.