I picked up a 87 Cremina a couple of weeks ago and decided to make it my first rebuild. The machine had been sitting unused for several years and looking at the solid 7mm of coffee tar covering the dispersion screen also appeared to have never been cleaned. Fortunately the outer cover was in excellent shape and the frame was just rusted on the inside corners.

I stripped it down completely and sent the frame to Melrose metal finishers in Oalkand for blasting and powder coating in black. Chris and his crew did a beautiful job, turning it around in 4 days for a very reasonable price. OE supplied the new seals etc. very quickly. I finished yesterday and pulled shots this morning. A joy to use.

tom

Hi Tom,
Looks beautiful! Well done!

Beautiful job! It looks brand new.

Beautiful!!

Nice pics too.

Thank you for sharing.

Could have been mine? I owned a 1987 red Cremina (from 1987- approx. 2005). Bought from Zabars and shipped to me in Chicago Nov. 1987.

It had not been in use for about 8 years by 2005. A young woman drove down to Santa Cruz from Berkeley to buy mine. I was out-of-the-loop (Not yet addicted to the internet - or a member of Home Barista) and did not realize those Cremina had become objects of veneration. I should have guessed, maybe they were, in that she was willing to drive all the way to get mine - and the gleam in her eyes should have been the dead-giveaway. It needed some new gaskets and seals - otherwise in very good shape. I did not think she was an experienced home barista yet - but had been tipped off by a friend to make a beeline to get mine.

I wonder if she kept it...

maybe it was yours once. I got it from new york.

tom

Wow. Gorgeous powder coating. That is a thing of beauty.

Was the basically stainless unblemished? Or did you polish it up to get that mirror finish?

Enjoy the shots...

Mostly used a stainless steel hand brush and a quick pass with extra fine steel wool.