Doug, Greg -

wow, thanks for your prompt replies!

yep, got the pressure relief valve out of the way and was pretty sure I was good to go with the level glass but wanted to double-check I wasn't missing something before getting tough with it. thanks to Doug's tip, and with a fair amount of elbow grease, the glass put up a good fight but I was finally able to slide it out intact.

and with that, actually, I am ready to reverse the process and put it all back together. the excitement builds. Steve's machine looks pretty darn sharp in black, but I'm sticking with the original brown for now (I've got a thing for "vintage," I guess). maybe next time I tear it down for another gasket replacement I'll send it out for a powder coating. I may not be able to hold off on those wooden handles, though.

thanks much for your assistance, gentlemen. I'm not done yet, so I may be back. but Steve's guide is pretty comprehensive, so hopefully I'll be ok.

cheers,

david

daevid wrote:I am ready to reverse the process and put it all back together.

Be sure to use a "Roadman," when reinstalling the piston.

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...x-t3655.html#41815

Doug -

great tip, thanks for looking out. hadn't seen that thread and was pondering potential damage to those gaskets upon installation.

question: any thoughts on the pressure relief valve with respects to tension on the spring? I think I counted ten rotations backing off the upper portion of the valve, so I guess that's what I'll go with when reassembling.

thanks again for all the pointers. can't wait for our first pull...

david

daevid wrote:Doug -

great tip, thanks for looking out. hadn't seen that thread and was pondering potential damage to those gaskets upon installation.

question: any thoughts on the pressure relief valve with respects to tension on the spring? I think I counted ten rotations backing off the upper portion of the valve, so I guess that's what I'll go with when reassembling.

thanks again for all the pointers. can't wait for our first pull...

david

The Creminas I rebuilt were all previously set 2 1/2 to 3 full turns backed off from fully tightened down.

I just adjusted my valve on my Olympia Maximatic as it was slightly leaking ( just a wee bit ever so slightly!) at 1.0 bar I counted 7.5 revolutions to remove. I then tightened 1/2 revolution more upon reassembly. It seems to be OK now.

Age of the spring could make this vary from machine to machine- So YMMV

On the outside chance that you missed it, there are some great restoration tips on Greg's Oly Twins thread as well:

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...ns-saga-t2504.html

Doug, on a completely different subject, I did finally respond to your question re: double pulls on the Smackdown thread, just before KS posted his Lusso reviews.

PC

peacecup wrote:Doug, on a completely different subject, I did finally respond to your question re: double pulls on the Smackdown thread, just before KS posted his Lusso reviews.

PC

Thanks Jack, I'll take a look.

Steve...can't tell you how enjoyable (even for a non Lever guy...yet) this thread was. A good guy like you will always have the espresso gods smiling down on you.....eventually!
Enjoy your machine!
Rob J

srobinson wrote:And finally, put the siphon tube in the back. This is one of the parts that I had ordered from the factory and as you can see...money well spent since the old one is close to impossible to clean properly:

Sorry to bring up such an old post but my searching for randomness lead me here and seeing this picture made me curious... the old part looks to be mandrel bent. Wondering if in the espresso machine world this would make a difference?