Swissbariss wrote:I saw that too. I really like the Gaggia with one lever though. Also the two lever one looks nice as well but both need a resto. Maybe I am ready for that kind of headache, lol.


Quick question since there seems to be some knowledgeable people here. Since most of my friends drink cafe crema's I need more volume and if this coffe truck side gig goes through it will be one of the more popular drinks I will have to make. For some reason I cant get my head around how a spring lever can do two or three pulls without destroying the puck. Does that really work with a spring lever? I know the very first Gaggias were called cafe crema and not espresso machines but where those spring fed as well? I'd love to get my hands on one but not possible due to budget for now, later maybe.

The dose and grind are adjusted such that it just fits between the shower screen and the bottom of the basket. It works just fine. Or you can grind a bit coarser and just pull the lever ant let it run at boiler pressure then when just about done release the lever.

OldNuc wrote:Are ther heating elements in that President boiler? I see the power connection but that might just be the neon power.

One of the things I'll be checking in person when I inspect it. There is some hint on the right side of the boiler with the insulated wiring, but it is not confirmed if they attach to the boiler elements (if they exist). If they are not present it would be another point to use in haggling.

Yes as it could be a gas only machine but the burner looks completely unused. It may be a wobble weight pressure control which can be updated to modern high tech but does require some fiddling to make it al work as originally designed with modern control. I converted my L59 to spring relief, vacuum breaker, and solid state pressure control and it does work nicely. i have been testing it for better than a year in daily use.

It looks to me like it is still set up for gas heating; I see the gas input is still present in front of the machine. I don't see a pressurestat and it looks like the electrical is going to the backlit panel.

That said, if there is an electric heating element there it would be a pleasant surprise. If not, then at least it will be a fun project to convert it to electrical if that's what you want to do. My President started out as gas and was converted at some point in its life. At a bare minimum you will need a heating element, pressurestat, boiler overpressure valve to replace that wobble plate (which is most likely made of lead), and a switch; those parts are all readily available either in Italy or the US, but at least its another point for you to use in your negotiations.

Early electric heated machines used a low and high power element to control heat input and the wobble weight to control pressure, no pressurestat required. These machines were almost a build to order item so the variations are many and over the ~60+ years of life many were modified many times as they passed through different owners.

The machine in question may actually have a spring relief and the heating is controlled by the gas flow control valve which is present. Pix at ends of the boiler would be interesting.

Those lead wobble weights are not going to kill you either ...

As I suspected. Safely installed in the trunk. Nice find and likely a relatively easy restore. It did look like the boiler flange bolts can be cleaned up with Evaporust but the trick will be getting them out of the aluminum reinforcing rings without destroying the rings. That part will require a fair amount of Evaporust soaking time to penetrate down into the bolt-aluminum interface.

The tube to the original manometer probably sprouted a leak and that is why it was clipped. Depending on the water Ph that was originally used in the machine ther could be some thin tubing walls.

A very nice find and a unique machine.

Did some closer inspection on the machine today before I pack it up for the move. I took off the body panel, and I will just say it is so much easier to do this compared to the Gaggia Tell/LL. Four plastic nuts on the front come off and you can slide off the panels afterwards. The inside showed some corrosion on the lower plates, but was not the worst I've seen online. The frame itself is rusty as is the gas burner, and will need a sandblasting and powder coating when I get to the US and finish the Gaggia. The boiler is plated (with nickel?), which I may buff off and either re-apply it or keep it copper.


The panel is a little peeled but depending on how easy it is to touch up I will either leave it as is or do the former. I would prefer keeping it in original condition as much as possible.


I like the flecked look of the spotty brass showing through the chrome as long as it's not too worn. It shows the age of the machine in a respectable manner.





The wiring for the neon light is still present as mentioned earlier. I think it would be neat if I could source a custom light for the back panel, but if I can't LED lights are an option as well.


The most painful thing I can already see I will be doing is unbolting 24 boiler bolts without damaging the aluminum shims and snapping them off. As OldNuc noted I will be generous on the application of Evaporust preceded by some heat.




The heating element appears to never have been used, and I will be confirming if it still works with an Ohmmeter at some point. The bottom left pole appears to have taken a small ding. It states 220V on the stamped element flange with two elements together providing 1300W(?) each for 2600W total. I believe they are connected in series, so technically I could wire up one element if I wanted to plug it into my 2kW step up transformer without blowing a 15A circuit (but would take forever to warm up).