Oh my... you have a J.O.B. ahead of you but then that's the price of "found/free"sometimes. Nice unearthed treasure by the way.

Yeah, that element definitely looks like it's seen better days. If only 1 element is burnt out some people have sealed off that element, poured in freshly boiled water and turn on the remaining element to bring it up to full temp. It's an option at least.

A better option would be to follow some of the threads of people that have had their La Pavoni re-fitted with an element or purchased another element and fit it themselves.

Last resort would be to see if anyone needs it for rebuilding or parts.

The group on those oldest La Pavoni levers seems to be one of their better setups from what I've read on various sources. When I was first looking for a La Pavoni 2 of them sailed through Craigslist, and I "knew" from reading that they were a pain to work on. I should have picked up both of them, but opted for a very nice 1984 model instead. (1984 Professional is a nice machine too, just not as temperature stable.)

toddmp wrote:Are there any diy options for removing the group from the boiler since no bolts? Anything wrong with just leaving it and working on it upside down?

Yes, Francesco wrote to me that once you get the brass cylinder inside the group removed with the sleeve removal tool you can buy at Orphan Espresso, you fashion a dowel that you fit inside the group and a larger one that you fit inside the bottom of the boiler once you've removed the element. Take care not to press against the dipper tube inside the boiler. The group then turns out counterclockwise. It's screwed into the boiler.

Working on the group upside down is very difficult, especially since you are likely to also find a plain steel retaining clip that's badly rusted and holds the piston rod gasket.

Sorry you have a blown element. I'm told the magic of these machines is the tuned dual heating system combined with that brass-sleeved group, so if you have a working low element it cruises at brew temperature. I look forward to getting my early one working and trying that out. Robert writes that he really likes his.

Another option:

La Pavoni has a way of changing parts so that the "new" one is seriously poorer than earlier ones. The groups of these machines is the best example of this. They originally had a wonderful one and since then they have made two different models, each of which is a serious step toward a worse machine.

The best bases are the modern brass ones, I think, the second best are the oldest, and the steel modern ones are junk. The pressurestat was a great improvement. The plastic boiler cap a serious degradation. The original portafilter was also superior to later ones. The original metal group handle fork was machined instead of being a cheap piece of bent steel that results in "slop" unless you put threaded rods with acorn nuts in place of the original pins.

The removal steam wand added about 1995 was a great improvement.

Attaching the base with a screw on the bottom instead of top around 2005 was also an improvement.

One could fashion the best La Pavoni lever on the planet by finding one with a brass base and pressurestat that has a group that has been ruined by some accident, and then machining an adapter to put the pre 1974 group onto the machine.

Maybe La Pavoni would hear of such a machine and stop its tendency to make machines with poorer parts than earlier ones.

Thanks everyone for their tips and info. I want to bring this thing back to life but it seems there is a pretty steep hill with the heating element. I can't afford a conversion to a modern element. I am looking into doing this DIY mod (http://www.spanglefish.com/avicennassol ... eid=243553) using an element from a La Pavoni Domus that Peter Bradley recommended to me (instructions are about halfway down the page). could the machine work without steamer access on just the lower element? is the high element just for steaming milk?

A few notes:
1. I cannot get the sight glass to budge after two days of penetrating oil and lube. Is it a cheap replacement if I just break it to get at the hardened gaskets?

2. Removing the handle allowed the brass piston to literally fall out into the drip tray. I am guessing there is a screen missing in the group?

3. all gaskets are rock hard and crumbling. are there any that I need to absolutely salvage as they are not available as replacements?

4. everything is torn down as far as I can without special tools to remove the heating element, boiler flange, brass group head sleeve.

thanks everyone - todd

The gaskets and retaining ring are available as replacements from Stefano's Espressocare and from Francesco Ceccarelli. The high element is for steaming milk. Here's how I learned to loosen a stuck sightglass from a tip by Doug Garrott of Orphan Espresso. If you can remove yours without breaking it there's one less part to replace, although you probably could do so with borosilicate glass of a similar size. You have a shower screen that appears in your photos. Maybe someone else can explain why the piston when loosened just fell out, or you can show us more photos.

drgary wrote:You have a shower screen that appears in your photos. Maybe someone else can explain why the piston when loosened just fell out, or you can show us more photos.

I could have sworn you were correct, but upon reviewing the photos again there is no screen there. just the gunked up bottom of the brass piston.

These are just ordinary laboratory glass tubing. It is normally made to very poor diameter tolerances. If you use O rings for the seals, that may not matter. I think the standard diameter is 9 mm for these. But laboratory tubing so marked could be less than 8.5 and more than 9.5 in some cases. It is very inexpensive if you have a laboratory supply place nearby. You have to know how to cut the stuff. After cutting you need to put the cut end in a flame to fire polish it. A propane or MAPP gas torch works fine.

toddmp wrote:I could have sworn you were correct, but upon reviewing the photos again there is no screen there. just the gunked up bottom of the brass piston.

It looks like the piston bottom is marked with coffee remnants from the shower screen. (The spider carcass is a nice touch, btw.) I wonder if that shower screen is hiding with the portafilter and other missing parts somewhere in the attic?

I hope so, especially the expensive portafilter. Unfortunately I am dealing with a hoarding situation so I cannot even get into half of the rooms of the now vacated house. Itll be years until it is all empty.