Hello all,

I just recently took delivery of a 1971 or 72 Europiccola, a 220v version that came from Italy. It was sold as a "shell" but is really only missing the portafilter and sight glass. I've had it for a few days and it is in good shape!! I replaced the sight glass, but no other gaskets. It has the Euro plug so I was going to make an adapter and plug it in to my AC outlet (solid residential wiring electrical background) for a test.

I have been wanting an EP for some time and my Gaggia Classic quit after 30 years of faithful service, so now was the time.You may have seen the auction, I couldn't pass it up for $77 shipped.

My first question? where are the inexpensive portafilters?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111955164067

would any pre-millennium portafilter fit, if so then I think the Cafelat Xt may be the cheapest option for a new PF. BUT it will cost you more than the entire machine at $85 plus ~$20 for a filter basket...

Hello Tim, and welcome to H-B. Great first post and congratulations on stealing that machine!

You can count on changing all the gaskets. If the heating element doesn't work you can exchange it for a rebuilt 110v version from Gabor. The challenges faced by those who take on these 1st gens is removing the heating element and boiler flange to get at and change the gaskets, and removing the group brass cylinder to service the piston. You'll also want to get some rubber trim to edge the bottom of the base. The serial number tells me it's a version 1.6, which means the shower screen is removable. You're in luck. That means that if the group cylinder doesn't come out it won't need to. You can still service the group. The paint looks like it's in very good condition except for the drip tray, which is easily spray painted after masking off the rest. Francesco Ceccarelli sells inexpensive bottomless portafilters too (they will fit all but the 3rd gen). Since you're missing the front badge you could soup it up by adding lights to indicate whether the low or high heating element is on. You might also consider adding a power cord with an inline switch so you can turn it off and on. Another possible add-on is a manometer on top of the sightglass. To tune the pressure you can see how it steams as is. If the spring that holds the ball inside the OPV is weakened you can add a shim, being careful to measure pressure before steam starts releasing, which should be at about 0.8 or 0.9 bar.

Oh, and this is also a better machine than your Gaggia Classic.

Thanks for repliesI

I read "Building the Ultimate La Pavoni Europiccola" thread about 5 times already., good info there, and visited francesco's site as well. I also picked up the gauge adapter (professional adapter fits my early version) and a 30psi manometer... not a pavoni original, that is for sure.,

As Gary said, I need to test the heating element and replace all the gaskets. I am looking forward getting it up and running and having some more control over my espresso shots