Brass/Copper Conti Prestina

#1: Post by **JayCan** » January 4th, 2014, 10:59 pm

Continued from Who Won the Conti Prestina on eBay?

Just arrived today...

It arrived around 3:27 PM

I started taking pictures and then just started taking it apart. The machine is in great restorable condition and was easy to disassemble ( less than an hour to disassemble). The seals were all dry and brittle and it had what looked like epoxy around the valves???
There is no rust on the frame and little to no scale deposits just some residue in the boiler that can be easily removed with a green Scouring pad

I have inspected the body panels and can not find any evidence of plating, so maybe they are solid copper and or brass???
This machined looks to have been lightly used and then stored after it started leaking through the steam and water valve body extensions that connect to the boiler( guessing here). The copper lines are shinny and clean on the inside and the boiler still has some of the insulation attached.
I purchased this because it looked like it might be the older model that has a one piece group head. I have two other Conti Lever machines one with solid brass one piece group heads and one with the two piece group heads. The solid Brass group is heavier and retains more heat when pulling a shot. The two piece group head with the aluminum sleeve reacts too fast to temperature changes. This machine has the one piece group head in great condition with the original Nikasil plating intact.
It is missing the drip pan that goes under the drip tray; the previous owner used what looks like an old ice tray.
I ordered all the seals for this machine yesterday hope to have this up and running this time next week

#2: Post by **caeffe** » January 4th, 2014, 11:21 pm

Congrats! Looking fwd to see more as you progress

#3: Post by **TomC** » January 5th, 2014, 12:17 am

Another great one to follow! Hope it turns out flawlessly for you!

#4: Post by **drgary** » January 5th, 2014, 12:54 am

Congratulations, Jay!

Yes, that's epoxy around the steam and water tap, a common "fix" for these machines, otherwise those taps easily start to turn on you. My solution facing the same dilemma was to use a Loctite product that holds them firmly in place but is removable with hand tools. And for anyone who hasn't made the connection, Jay knows something about hand tools ...

I didn't realize there's an earlier version than mine with a solid brass group. Nice score! For my home use I'm not noticing temperature stability issues.

And Jay, if you want a better drip tray I sourced several heavy stainless steel bread pans so I could dedicate one to my machine. You're welcome to help yourself to one.