lmolter wrote:The leaks are fickle. None in the last week.

On another note, the gasket and seal replacement I did made the machine so much easier to use -- the lever is as smooth as glass. At first, I wasn't sure if it was working right as there was almost no resistance.

Can't get good microfoam after the rebuild, though, although nothing was done to the steam wand. There seems to be more steam pressure, but it's hard to tell because the pressure gauge won't zero and always reads .5 too high. I bought another one but misplaced it. And they're not cheap. I bought the brass one (because it looked nicer?) and forgot to bye the adapter. While waiting for the adapter, I lost the gauge somewhere. $62 USD for that brass gauge. And not even solid brass -- just brass plate instead of chrome plate. Oh, well...

You likely got the La Pavoni branded gauge which is more expensive.
There is quite a big variation in prices for La Pavoni parts around the world. Even though, I live in Canada, my go to shops are theespressoshop.uk, bluestarcoffee.eu and coffee-sensor.com (Romania)

They all offer affordable and fast shipping options. Prices are quite competitive, even with the exchange rate.

There's a way to reset your pressure gauge so it rests at 0 again. Doesn't guarantee it will be calibrated like a new one but from my own experience, it's pretty close.
Since your pressure gauge calibration was off, likely due to scale, the possible explanations for the lower steam output are:
1. Lower boiler pressure vs actual reading
2. Scale build up in the wand/valve assembly
3. Partially blocked steam tip/wand from milk residue