It all started at a Spring break weekend a couple of years ago. Espresso bit me hard this time. Prior nibbles were only from owning some little Krups steamers, purchased to help me adapt to the Pacific Northwest. For me, they just really weren't good espresso makers . Maybe that is mostly true because I only had a blade coffee mill to produce the desired product- low effort and low expectations. Ok, back to Spring break at a house rental we are sharing with three other couples and kids- The subject happens to land upon espresso when a friend comments that he needs to get a machine because of a kitchen remodel.
His comment revealed that he knew little more than the words "espresso machine" and as a life long amateur researcher- It was my duty to help him find out what the best options were, and where to find to find them... Fast forward through a blur of hastily bought entry pump machines from Craig's List and thrift stores. Buy , sell, buy, sell ( I even find that the friend's need never rose beyond a Krups Novo I found for him)

I found my first real machine that produces decent espresso- A Rancilio Betsy($9.99-Goodwill in box) and I paired it with a ( budget) reworked and modified Starbucks re-badged grinder and she's been producing pretty good espresso for over a year. But the espresso "bite" keeps itching... so the on-line searching and reading goes on and as I am monitoring eBay and CL , CG, I discover Home-Barista and the Lever forums... I think "Hmmmm, interesting, but I really want a Silvia" and... the cost of the Silvia can be subsidized, I say to myself if I buy one more machine and fix it up , sell it to help me justify my espresso budget to the wife...

You know the thoughts of hobby budgets needing to be justified... Anyway,
I grabbed a 1966 La Pavoni to work on, turns out it doesn't need it- it's almost perfect. Then I see the 1st Line offer from Jim on refurbed Silivia's for HB members. So I buy one, and then... oh yeah , here it comes... Before I even get it, I find a Olympia Cremina 67 and just can't resist and buy it as well. Yep- that's three machines to help cure the itch- impulsive buying at its worst.

So, I blame all of you, or thank all of you. You folks have drawn me in like a moth to the flame. So I now am going to sell what turned out to be a buyers remorse, returned 2005 Silvia- pristine, boxed condition, which was what I thought I always wanted, and maybe sell the La Pavoni .. and wait like a kid on Christmas night for the UPS driver to bring my fixation- MY 67!!!. I have to say Steve Robinson completely pushed me over the cliff with his captivating documentation of his restoration process. The lever process really speaks to me. The passion that all of the members have spoken to here says in capital letters to me- WELCOME- YOU AREN'T ALONE. So thanks again to all of you for sharing and casting such a good net....
Could any of you help explain this to my wife.....?

Did I leave out the new grinder? That itch just keeps needing a little more scratching.. just a little to the left.. yeah that's it.

Since it (my 67) is the reason my life is going to revolve around making my adoring spouse the best - mochas- she's ever had, from it, so may I please be LMWDP member #67? I will respect the ruling of Steve or HB(Dan?) on this jump ahead. Pics follow in hopefully 2 days.
If anyone is looking for a Rancilio Betsy ( time for a new home) or La Pavoni Europiccola that I don't want to start liking it too much.....

mo

LMWDP #??

Take it it's yours. Show me pics when it comes in.

I will. I'm doing alot of travelling and it has been fun if not awkward to arrive back home to find a new box to open. I've been really lucky with the individuals I have purchased from. Exemplary boxing and packing. Led by the 1st Line folks with double boxing of the Silvia down to more peanuts and bubble wrap than I can get rid of.

This is a sellers shot of the 67. It looks to be a mystery color. somewhere between red and orange. Ok. guess I need to go read up on the posting directions for pictures again. I have stuff on Photobucket.





I can't quite tell if it is light brown or the orange color. The badge on the back is the black background type like I saw on DylansM 67( A fellow Portlander) I am trying touch base with.



Last note: A small world it is- at a Oscars party with some friends I met a fellow lever-man. The word "roasting " popped up in a conversation and discovered yet another olympia owner. One with a matching Mocca Express Grinder in need of a glass bean hopper to replace the one broken during shipping. The plot gains strength!! Anybody knows where to get a used hopper please let me know( he actually spent the $80 Olympia-Express wanted for the new blue acrylic version and he sent it back, it just wasn't "stock" enough for his taste.

More later- I hope the shots worked

Thanks again

mo

Hi All.
I would like to claim LMWDP # 62.
I have been coffee obsessed for nine years now.
My coffee "hobby" has grown into an occupation for me, and I have been roasting coffee now for 4 years as a business.
My newest "home" espresso machine is an Astoria 1987 Lever machine. I will post pictures eventually. It is a full size commercial machine. After purchasing the machione on EBAY I received it very damaged. The sellers did not even drain the boiler before they shipped it to the frozen north. But I digress...
After a 1 month rebuild effort, the Astoria came back to life today. I am totally amazed at the quality of the espresso extracted. It blows my $9K Sibilla out of the water. I have much to learn about the operation of a lever machine though. For example how do you pull a longer shot? Can I PID it?
So much to learn, so little time.
Great Forum!

I'd like to lay claim to number 63...

I finally had enough with not having a decent home espresso rig,
and started on a quest to find a Pavoni like I used to lust after on
visits to Italy back in the day.

The local eBay had a good one last week, and some other lever thing
in a really bad brown squarish case. A little research revealed it to be
an Olympia 67, a diamond in the rough. Then I found this site, and the
reconstruction projects, and the "pimp my cremina" series. Oh man.

I couldn't perform a snipe, so had to overbid this morning on that 70's
brown Oly, which I later discovered was mine, with $28.00 to spare!

It's almost midnight, I've just made my order with Olympia Express,
the machine should be here in another day or two. Can't wait. I'm going to
be hard to resist making engine-turned and polished panels, and I'll have
to hide the carbon-fibre and the electroplater's phone number too.

Now to try for a good grinder and make nice with the local bean roaster...

Greg

Gregory Q wrote:Now to try for a good grinder and make nice with the local bean roaster...

Or.... really come in the the deep end of the pool and just get a source for green beans and start roasting your own!!!! That could be next in your life!!

Congrats on your machine =

If I had read enough of the thread prior to my post I would have seen that the next number was in fact 64, which I'll take if no one else wants it.

...And yeah, I am thinking of a bean roaster, but first the restoration of the -67 awaits, and other projects.

At least I have a good stash of wood if I decide to go ditch the Bakelite.

Has anyone ever installed a pressure gauge in the handle of a PF of one of these things?
It might be a solution to the conundrum of getting a reading from the group head. I think I saw this
in an exploded parts diagram for some other machine, so its not an original idea.

Greg

Olympia 67
member, future grinder owner's club.

You're enrolled, welcome!

LMWDP #064 Gregory Q
LMWDP #065 Borys Ta Polon

Oops, I guess I just posted in the wrong thread.

I deleted this message, but here are the pics again. (Yep, it's a '71 Cremina.)
And it's not that I'm willing to sell it, but there's another post called: "How much would you spend on a '71 Cremina?"
Let me assure you I didn't get it cheap (although that depends on how you look at it), so there's no "HAHA, I found it at the dump!" clue.

Man gorgeous machine! Olympia makes some high quality gear. We sold them once before 2 or 3 years ago and thats the one thing I could say about Olympia. Its just really nice stuff. I love the vintage style of this one though... Beautiful.

How much did you get it for?