Hey all, this is my first time posting to HB but I have been on here in the past for various reasons related to my 1998 LP Europiccola.

I have been recently scouring old posts on here because last week I picked up a Bezzera Family of FB marketplace from a couple in Syracuse NY. The guy got it from his mom who was the original owner. Not sure what the whole backstory is but he got it from his mom 20 (or maybe 12? I cant remember...I was too excited) years ago and it's been in his garage since.

Here are some pictures of it when I got it back to my shop.






As you can see, it's in ok condition for its age. It definitely looks like its been in a garage for a while. There is evidence left behind by mice which is totally gross. Once I saw mouse poop I decided this was going to be a total overhaul. I don't want to question whether there are ancient sharticles in my coffee.

So I am posting here because I feel like I can contribute some new information to add the other posts that are very informative about restoring these machines and hopefully I will also be able to draw some experience and knowledge from those that read and respond to this pose. I will try to be as thorough as possible and provide any links, measurements, etc that I feel is necessary. As I write this I am already through the entire disassembly and descale process so I have an idea of what my goals are for this project.

As of now the list of project goals are:
- Repaint frame and outer case
- Replace all seals and gaskets throughout
- Possibly machine a new piston and shaft unless there is miraculously someone out there with one laying around
- Modify existing lever cam or machine a new one (more info in future posts)
- Replace feet because I had to tear the old ones off like a gorilla
- Modify steam wand and water tap
- Replace switch
- Possibly replace element
- Replace pstat
- Rewire electrics
- Add a cord grip for strain relief to the frame so the cord doesn't just dangle out of the bottom of the machine
- I would like to add the logo to the front of the machine somehow so I might experiment with water slide decals or possibly using a C02 metal marking spray with a laser engraver.

Ok thats all for now!

Nice find!

As the machine had been in a garage in the Northeast, I would suggest checking/testing for frozen water damage while you have the machine apart.

It is annoying to clean up a machine and put it back together only to find out there is a leak from water that froze in the boiler or thermosyphon, etc.

Oh wow I didn't even think about that as a possibility!
How would I check for that?

There was very little water in the boiler, maybe a tablespoon or two. Is that enough to do any damage?

Ok so the next day after taking the machine home I began to assess what I had in front of me and started calculating how extensive this restoration project would become.

After taking off the drip tray and warmer tray I removed the 4 M4 screws to take off the back cover. As with other peoples experience, my machine did have a sheet of what looked like fiberglass insulation inside the machine. I promptly removed that and trashed it because it had mouse poop in it.

Is the insulation necessary? Or is it just to prevent users from burning themselves on the back if the machine? Any suggestions for a clean-looking replacement?





As you can see the machine looks like it has been in a garage for a while. Every surface has that gritty/greasy dust that can only be created with age and neglect.



The Pstat is a Ceme that seems like a nice pstat but it looks kind of rough. I'll see how well it cleans up and decide whether it's worth replacing or not. It seems like a simple mechanical pstat and as long as the micro switch works I cant see why the rest of it wont?



The element also looks a bit rough, might need to replace that too. We'll see.



Sight glass is intact, it has a bit of paint loss but I might be able to remedy that with a touch up.



There is quite a bit of contrast between the clean threads on the group fitting here. Goes to show how much brass and copper change when they oxidize.

At this point I removed the grouphead and began assessing its health.
After taking out the piston assembly I could see that there was a significant amount of corrosion on the shaft and spring. The piston seals are gross as expected but the inside of the group was smooth and without scoring or other damage aside from scale.

In order to clean the spring and piston thoroughly I took that assembly apart by applying pulling the lever down on the assembly and clamping it in the loaded position with a vise. That freed up the tension on the lever pin so I could take the bearings off and tap the pin out from the lever cam.



Here are all the parts laid out on the bench.



The piston is designed with a recess in the back that is perfect for collecting water and rusting the piston shaft and spring.
Is there any logical reason for this recess? Is it for heat dissipation?



And the cap to the group has two holes that are in between the grooves where the cam will roll. Those holes I assume are to prevent positive pressure in the top of the group when pulling the lever? These holes also unfortunately let water into the group at some point, causing the rust on the piston shaft and spring.

What you can also see in the picture is some wear in the bore that the piston shaft passes through. It was a bit alarming to see this I'll be honest. But there is more... I may have opened up a pandoras box here.



As you can see in this picture the hole where the lever pin passes through to attach it to the piston shaft seems to be wallowed out a bit due to the pin not being pressed in all the way. This misalignment deformed the other hole significantly on the inside of the cam. I'm not sure how I will fix this at this point but maybe someone out there has an espresso machine graveyard that might have a spare part in it?
I wonder if this explains what might have caused the wearing in the group cap?

Does anyone see a problem with the group cap being worn like it is?
It might have even been like that from the beginning honestly. These parts are cast and machined so who knows. There isn't a seal in there like on a pavoni either so I'm thinking it doesn't matter much. What are peoples thoughts?

Does anyone have a contact for someone that might have spare parts for this machine?
I am leaning towards enlarging the wallowed out hole in the cam and making a new piston and shaft from scratch that can accept a larger lever pin. If someone has another idea I'd love the feedback.

I can't answer most of your questions as I don't like giving speculative answers.
- the insulation saves the paint on the case, and reduces the power consumption of the system;
- the membrane on the pressurestat looks pooched; I would just put in a new pressurestat;
- the recess in the piston is to reduce the overall height of the group as the recess reduces the height of the piston+spring; this is very common in 'Club' groups;
- the piston itself looks fine to me;
- the rust on the spring is from the top seal of the piston leaking; the hole on the group top did not let the water in; the holes let steam out as an early warning of piston seal leakage.

Good luck!

Glad to see I'm not the only one with random scraps of wood piled on the workbench....

You might want to put an SSR on a heat sink to switch the element, running off the pressurestat. The CEME and MATER units hold up reasonably well on 230 V, but the roughly double current on 120 V can cause them to fail sooner than desired or regularly.

Thanks Jeff! Do you have a picture that shows what you mean? I've used an SSR paired up with a PID and thermocouple for temp control before but I'm not sure how the pstat fits into the equation.

Blernsball wrote:Glad to see I'm not the only one with random scraps of wood piled on the workbench....

Haha, I manage a college machine shop so we have tons of scrap around. We were sorting through it that day so it was all out on the tables.

baldheadracing wrote:I can't answer most of your questions as I don't like giving speculative answers.
- the insulation saves the paint on the case, and reduces the power consumption of the system;
- the membrane on the pressurestat looks pooched; I would just put in a new pressurestat;
- the recess in the piston is to reduce the overall height of the group as the recess reduces the height of the piston+spring; this is very common in 'Club' groups;
- the piston itself looks fine to me;
- the rust on the spring is from the top seal of the piston leaking; the hole on the group top did not let the water in; the holes let steam out as an early warning of piston seal leakage.

Good luck!

I appreciate your honesty and responses! These all make sense. I forgot that the spring fits into the recess on the top side of the piston. Do you know if the shaft is threaded onto the piston head? I tried unscrewing it but it wouldn't budge. The shaft is really severely pitted through the chrome

I am probably going to replace the pstat although it did clean up surprisingly well. I'll post pictures of that soon.