I'm now running a c. 1970s Nuova Simonelli 2 group lever. It's sporting full chrome CMA groups, running 110 and in need of some TLC, another lever handle, some legs, new steam wands, among other things. The boiler is being descaled... I drained the boiler on friday to find about 250mL of broken scale sloshing around the bottom. The plastic red side panels will be removed eventually to be replaced with slate or carrara marble. If it is to see commercial duty, I'll swap the 110V, 1800 watt element for something around 3000 watts/220V. So far, I've rewired the power supply, redid the plumbing lines, and cut a new gasket for the boiler, which is having a nice bath of citric acid at the moment.
Of the shots I've pulled, I have had difficulty getting the group temp up high enough, but even at a lower temp, they've been tasty.
This my friends, is what lever espresso is meant to be.
-jimmy
