I'm have been restoring several older La Pavoni Espresso machines without problem until I came to this very early model A4676. As you can see from the pics that the spout that is usually connected to the body of the machine with 2 bolts is apparently fixed to the body...therefore I can get to the diffusion group head and diffusion screen with any access room. Further more the diffusion screen is really stuck hard to the group head--the gasket is mostly buried under the diffusion screen. I have tried soaking in citric acid, soaking in DW 40 as well soap--I can't seem to loosen it. Any suggestions would be helpful as this machine is in otherwise excellent condition for age.
Thanks
Bob

If I'm not mistaken (which I could be), there are two holes under the gasket that you use to twist off the brass piston sleeve. See here: It's a Pavoni Shirley!

+1

Oh yeah and I have gotten good info from info@francescoceccarelli.eu

I have taken the main gasket off...could there be 2 gaskets. I have put up some higher res images and I don't see the 2 holes that were discribed in the article.
Thanks
Bob

my 1980 europiccola doesn't have those holes either.. once the gasket is off, I can just pull the dispersion screen off. the gasket is the only thing holding it on

Looks like there might be some more gasket material in there. Maybe not two, but part of one.

Whoa yeah! Keep looking and hoping that you find some holes in there under the gasket because if you don't you REALLY have a situation on your hands....from personal experience I can say this. If there are no holes for screwing out the liner there is no liner and there is no way to remove or replace the screen or remove the piston et al. If you can find no way to remove the brass sleeve then the manner that they manufactured the group and installed the dispersion screen was to press it into place into a small groove at the end of the cylinder and then flatten it out somehow. The only solution I could come up with (which worked by the way) was to force out the screen from above by hammering the piston rod downward with a wood mallet and replace it with a normal 49mm screen slipped over the brass protrusion.....after grinding and filing the brass down so it would fit....it was a labor intensive job for sure and THIS was on a machine with a normal bolt on group since the group comes off by removing the nut on the inside of the boiler which holds the group, which is done by removing the heating element....definitely a tangled web on this particular machine (unless you can find the holes). Good luck.

Doug is correct
on these very OLD ones
there are couple of hole on the brass chamber and the all assembly will come off (with a special tool) or with some alternative method
the showerscreen is held on only by pressure of the stainless steel elasticity or rigidity what ever will be the correct name to call it

Thanks for your help ... all the comment have been very useful.

PS make sure you can find also a grouphead gasket that will fit
the "standard" Pavoni currently sold does NOT