Thanks for the info guys. Yes, that picture of the frame was taken earlier. It is now completely disassembled.

However there is 1 thing I have noticed and you will not like it. The green viton gasket you have used between the group and boiler is for the boiler after yours, i.e. the one with the welded studs. You need the one with 8 holes and it does not have slots in it and only comes in the hard compressed paper. Your boiler will leak.

Darnit! I knew things were going too smoothly....
Once again, thanks Paul. You have saved me countless hours of frustration.

It's been awhile since I posted about my project. Just to catch everyone up to date:

Boiler/group gasket: It took three different orders before I finally received the right gasket. Very frustrating. Just to recap, if anyone has the old style boiler, with the group bolts NOT welded to the boiler, there is only 1 type of gasket available. Make sure you get the one with the holes and not the slots!

You guys weren't kidding when you said it would be difficult to attach the group to the boiler!! I finally managed to get all the bolts threaded onto the group, when upon hand-tightening them I find the last one is stripped! The second time around I managed to tighten them all with none stripping. Per advice, I torqued them in the proper order with the right amount of pressure. Then I did the heating and cooling cycle followed by more torquing.

Like most others, I went with the loctite 573 flange sealant. It was either that or the cheaper, easier to find 518. The 518 is similar, but does not slow cure. It took me a while to find the 573 at a reasonable price. Got lucky on Ebay. I can now say that it was definitely worth the extra money.

Polishing: This may sound weird, but I am really enjoying polishing the stainless steel! Starting off with a piece of mirror finish that is scratched and pitted and ending up with something shiny is very rewarding.
I ordered my polishing supplies from caswellplating.com. They have a very good forum with lots of great information about polishing.

I also finished repainting the base of my frame. I learned that it is important to take it slow. At first, after several coats I applied a clear coat. By not waiting long enough for the paint to dry it bubbled. I ended up stripping the frame and repainting it. What I really wanted to do was to throw it as far as I could.

So that is where I am at now. I still need a few more nuts, bolts, screws etc; but I can start the rebuilding process!

Love watching the updates of an old machine being restored to brand new life.
Keep up the great work.

Mark

Thanks! I'll try to keep this project up to date.

Hi Johnny, I'm don't mean to hijack your thread but I am also in the middle of rebuilding a 1 group AV from 1995 and made the exact same mistake with the viton gasket. I got the machine back together to the point that I fired it up to test it an the gasket leaked. After doing everything that I could think of to get the leaks to stop i finally called ESI and was told that I had the wrong gasket. I took the viton gasket off but haven't had time to put the new one back on yet. Would you happen to know what the torque specs on the bolts are?? No on at ESI could give me an answer. Here is a pic of my machine as of this evening. I have also been taking pics of the rebuild but was planning on posting them after I was finished. Hope you like the Kraft Mac & Cheese Orange! Feel free to email me if you have any problem or questions, as I may be able to help! Thanks Eric Decker

Whats up Eric, feel free to post about your project all you want!! I remember reading a post of yours awhile back mentioning the machine and was hoping you would start posting.....

703Eric wrote:Would you happen to know what the torque specs on the bolts are?? No on at ESI could give me an answer.

I followed the instructions that Paul Pratt listed on his Espresso Restorations website. He has a ton of valuable information, but some of it is spread out throughout his different projects. I hope he doesn't mind that I direct you to the info you want: It is in his "Goldfinger" project: http://www.espresso-restorations.com/GS2-3-2.html

Don't forget that the green viton gasket was the only one that didn't need sealant. If you need some of the Loctite 573 sealant, let me know I have lots left in that tube. Thanks for the help offer. Once my machine is done, hopefully I won't have to email you; because that means it is working!

If you haven't done so already, when you buy the correct gasket from ESI, make sure it is the one with the holes. The rep who helped me still sent me the wrong one even after I told him which one I needed. Apparently the one I needed was out of stock and the only paper gasket he found was the slotted one. It's all good though as this project would be boring without hurdles!

BTW: I like the color! It was hard enough getting my wife to let me buy this machine, I didn't want to push my luck by painting it any color but black. Keith.

Thanks for posting this link! I had looked at this website but never at this page. This is a tremendous help. You and I must have tried to order the gaskets at around the same time as ESI told me that they were out of stock on the old style paper gaskets. I picked up 3 of the gaskets up from Espresso Parts as i plan on this being my last personal machine. After realizing that I had to tear half the machine apart again I decided to take the plung and ordered a PID kit form Espresso Parts as well. One other part that I couldn't find was the "stud" style electrical connectors that Marzocco uses on these machines. My wife is Austrian and her father is an electrician so i had him pick me up 2 bags of these connectors so I could rework part of the wiring harness. Let me know if you need any of these connectors. Eric

Thanks for the offer Eric, I shot you an email.

Hi Johnny, I lost your email and I can't send you a picture through the forum email system so i am posting it to the thread. Let me know if you need a few of these. These connectors are not available in the US.
Eric

Those just look like crimp on pin connectors. RadioShack use to carry them.