Just in case anyone needs to do this, here are some pictures of the cylinder liner of a first series Faema lever group. The group had been leaking around the cylinder liner.



The cylinder liner screws into the body and needs either a rather special pin wrench (its not an ISO or DIN size that I can see), or you can turn down some bolts to the right profile, the holes for the pins are about 3mm diameter as I remember, and hold them in a vice the right distance apart to unscrew the liner. Tapping the group with a large rubber hammer started the liner turning after soaking for a couple of weeks in penetrating oil and sitting in the sun for a while.

The ID of the seal is 62mm, OD 73mm and the thickness today is 3mm. The thread on the liner is non-standard (hardly a shock on these machines), and appears to be something like M63x1.25 although thats not measured with a gauge.

You can see the seal on the top side of the flange in the picture below.



View into the group casting, without the liner in place.

Congratulations on the ingenuity and above all the patience!

Wow! 2 weeks in penetrating oil.... I'd have been wandering back into the workshop every two hours and probably ended up botching the job....

I really look forward to following this project.

Mike

So water circulates around the liner?
What planet does it come from?

Roeland,
The past is a different and strange country... this design is from the beginning of the 50s.

The volume above the piston is full of water with a gallery connecting that space with the boiler. There is a lip seal on the piston rod as well as the usual W and V seals on the piston. Later designs are much simpler.

In the picture of the liner, just above the thread, you can just see one of the holes that allowed water to flow under the piston when it was raised - there are three, each about 1mm in diameter.


Greg

That's not dissimilar to the design of the Cremina, albeit no liner there. Take a look at the diagram in Steve's post here: Olympia Cremina 2002: The evolution of design

What are the lower holes for? I can see 4 in the picture.

I've got no idea... when the shower is pressed into place it will cover the holes, so ventilation is not guaranteed to work. I've seen those holes on other machines and never known what they are for. Does anyone else have a good idea?

Michael,
Interesting, I think the design is unnecessarily complex as it is, the Faema design having additional retaining nuts and a fairly complex structure for the piston rod, lever, spring and associated seal when compared with the Cremina.

Greg

hi greg

good work and great patience! have you got it back together now? (an aside - did you see that maltoni has just released a faema history book?)

Paul,
Back together? (collapses with hysterical laughter)...

I only just got it apart, and wandering down to Coffeeparts and asking for that seal might not work, they are unlikely to keep that exact thing in stock. Two things to do now: first is to get the seal, second is to get the penetrating oil out of the group.

Greg