Here's a clip from the Bezzera diagram. I don't know if my Pasquini is supposed to be identical or if these pieces were not used. They don't seem to be too critical - another screen filter and what seems to be a spacer that keeps the screen in place. Comments?

Dan - thanks for the confirmation.

After I washed the frame and used the air compressor to dry it off, the existing paint didn't look too bad, at least on the base that is exposed. It still needed some attention in a few places, however. I pondered having the frame powder coated, but ultimately decided on the cheaper auto paint spray-can approach. I picked up a can of hi-temp primer and some engine paint that was a close match to the existing paint (or appeared to be). I setup a makeshift spray tent in the sunporch, donned a respirator, and went to work. I thought the fumes would be confined to the one room, but I quickly stunk-up the house. I finished the job as quickly as I could, including a couple coats of a clear topcoat.

The color is a dark gray with a little bit of greenish tinge and has some fine metallic flecks. The color is not quite as close a match to original as I thought, but it turns out it looks good with the hammered-gold-ish side panels. Here's a couple shots of the final color.

Ross

I'm getting closer to being able to reassemble. I'm in need of a couple parts, and I've placed an order with cafeparts.com. Has anyone ordered from them before? The online ordering system took my cc number happily enough, but I found my order was marked as "back ordered" and emails to their published contact address bounce. I'll have to give them a call to see what's up. Unfortunately, emails to Pasquini have not been fruitful.

Assuming I took enough pictures to start working backwards, I'm not far from putting things back together. Most of the parts I need aren't required immediately, so I can make some progress while waiting for parts. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take my project with me when visiting my wife's family for Thanksgiving.

I did manage to twist off a couple screw heads when disassembling the hot water tap solenoid. I hope to be able to drill out the remnants of the screws and reuse the part.



Some delicious looking Italian spaghetti:

For cleaning pipe dope and spent teflon tape off of threads, this brass bristle brush has been working great. I picked it up in the paint stripping area of Home Depot.

I started re-assembly this evening and took a shot with the side panel in place. I think the gold looks good with the new base color. I'm still waiting for some parts, but fortunately I can still do a lot of the assembly before I have to stop and wait. I've got some stainless to polish, so I'm sure I could switch over to that.

I think it's looking excellent! Great work.

Mark

Thanks, guys. I'm having a blast.

I'm coming to terms with the fact that there's no unit-testing when reassembling this thing - it essentially needs to be all back together before I connect plumbing, plug it in, flip the switch, and enjoy the geysers.

I got a little bit more back together today. I'm using blue Loctite threadlocker on the straight threaded fittings. I'm trying to avoid the teflon tape to avoid the cleanup problems in future repairs.

Here's the current state:

I'm using blue Loctite threadlocker on the straight threaded fittings. I'm trying to avoid the teflon tape to avoid the cleanup problems in future repairs.

If you want to be able to take it apart in the future you might want to use Loctite® 565™ PST® Thread Sealant. While blue isn't the strong stuff, on big threads it can be quite strong and brass is soft and bends easily.

Ira

Hmm, I used it based on the recommendation in this post: bezzera-espresso-machine-repair-frustration-t5438.html#p62343. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the 565. Where's a good place to find it? Auto-parts store?

Thanks,
Ross

Last I needed it, recommended for the tranny drain on the Buell, I failed and picked up the Permatex similar product at a local NAPA auto parts store. Failed to find it at AutoZone and the dealer. Easy to come by on-line.

Ira

Well, there's the Permatex Aviation which is a contact surface sealant, dunno if it's foodsafe but it seals like a [insert random invective here]. I use it to seal old Volkswagen engines, and other things that might leak oil.

Last night, I finished reassembling all the machine and attaching the wiring harness. There sure are a lot of extra electonic bits on a 2 group auto. And, all of the controls are just dangling out there so I'd have a clear view for any leaks I might have. After having one fortunately benign incorrect connection, I got all the electronics attached. I plugged it in, turned it on, and the pump started filling the boiler. Hmm, I see a number of leaks. I attacked a couple of them, but it was going on 10:30pm, and I didn't want to get sloppy, so I shut down for the evening. My goal is to serve my wife a cappa on Christmas eve. I think I have a good chance of hitting that goal.

I stopped by the local Fastenal store on the way work today and picked up a tube of Loctite 565. If I have to re-seal any of the fittings, I'll give it a shot.

Ross

I have some of the Rectorseal #5 in my arsenal, and I did try it. Unfortunately, I have leaks on the two places where I tried it - the caps on the ends of the thru-boiler hx's. I'm going to end up having used 4 different thread-sealing compounds by the time I'm finished. As long as I can find one that works, I'll be happy. The tube of 565 was a bit pricey at $19, but I'll give it a shot.

These types of threads are why I'm constantly looking around for a old machine to rebuild on the side. Damn that looks like fun!

networkcrasher wrote:These types of threads are why I'm constantly looking around for a old machine to rebuild on the side. Damn that looks like fun!

Yeah, I'm having a blast with my first refurb. I can see how this might easily turn into a habit/hobby/obsession.

Last night I had only a little time to spend on the project. I removed the lower end caps of the hx's, cleaned the threads, and applied the Loctite 565. I also used a bit on the flowmeters. I'll fire it up tonight and see if I've eliminated any leaks. I have a feeling I'll have to address the fittings on the top of the hx's as well - there was a leak coming from that area, but I had so many to chase I couldn't be sure. I'll have a big part of the weekend to work on it.

Parts are in the mail from cafeparts: new steam wand and associated gaskets, pressure gauge, o-rings for the group solenoids, and new group gaskets.

I'm satisifed with the progress.

I worked on repairing the known low-pressure leaks and then turned it on, let the boiler fill, and heat up. As the pressure built, I noted some additional leaks that I'll take care of after it cools down. The volume of steam was impressive, and I went ahead and frothed some milk. Wow! It never went so quickly with my Europiccola. I'm going to enjoy this machine!

After a number of disassembly/reassembly cycles to fix leaks in the expansion valves for both flowmeters, I finally found the right combination of sealants to leave me with a leak-free machine. I had a problem with one of the fittings (described in this post), but I managed to get it sealed temporarily. I noticed that the valve body had a recessed seat that appeared to be meant to accommodate an O-ring. I popped an O-ring on the fitting, and there were enough of the threads left to get it to seat into the valve body. After reassembling, no more leaks. Yeah! No wonder I found so much teflon tape glommed-up around that fitting during the tear-down.

I dared to pull a couple shots with some cheap beans while dialing-in the grinder setting. Nothing picture-worthy yet, but encouraging results. I did find that the group was not heating-up correctly, and I realized this morning that I probably need to bleed the thermosyphon loop. On this machine the loop feeds off the boiler water, with the infeed coming from the same place as the hot water tap (the hx is not involved in the thermosyphon loop). There's a screw on each group that covers the far end of the loop. My plan is to loosen the screw, and turn on the boiler and allow the building pressure to force the air out and water in to the loop.

Polishing the SS is next. I started with wet sanding with 1000, decided that was too fine, so I switched to 600. Better, but I'll need to drop to 400 to get a couple heavily scuffed areas. Pictures to come.

Ross