I couldn't post Paul but you made my holidays with this fantastic work, thanks again for sharing.

IMAWriter wrote: I realize this old geezer-ess is over 60 years old, but you wonder why in many cases they are so badly mistreated.

It is because they were commercial machines and so when a tech was repairing / servicing one in a working cafe he probably had the cafe owner breathing down his neck and ranting about losing money while the machine was out of action.
I think we tend to forget that commercial machines are / were just that to cafe owners - a way to make money and that compared to a Cremina in a home environment they were treated very badly.

IMAWriter wrote:Paul, I was just about to ask you that very thing. Quite often you see (as I did) a 30+ year old Olympia Cremina with hardly any disfigurement, but these machines such as yours look like they've been on the wrong side of a battle.
I realize this old geezer-ess is over 60 years old, but you wonder why in many cases they are so badly mistreated.
However, she's in good hands and I look forward to seeing the results of your expertise, as always.

The cause of the different parts could be anything when you are dealing with obsolete machines. Could be a service tech under the gun or even the factory themselves. I know La Marzocco repaired the '70s GS and '80s GS2 machines in the '90s by using new Linea boilers and Linea electrical switches. At the time they were probably going out of their way to fix the old machines, but were actually destroying the originality.

I have started work on the dented body panels, the large main body is covered in dents, some minor but some are very big. Most are like this, if you can see it in the centre of the photo



After hammering the dents with my dolly set, I am now stripping back the chrome to try and pick out the high and low spots. Looks bad now but it should be ok in the end.



This was a very badly damaged edge of the body (that I did when taking it apart), I hammered it roughly back into shape and then sanded it back, you can clearly see the low spots with chrome left. I'll probably fill it with lead and then sand back.



Jumping about a bit - but here is the heating element plate, I blasted one side of it today. Voltage says 280V which is quite an unusual voltage.



Not sure I will reuse this plate as it is made from cast iron which surprisingly did not like the water and has rusted, funny that. I just made a new brass element plate for a Gaggia I am working on and it worked out very well so might do the same for this machine.

Speaking of that Gaggia, I have had a few problems with the chrome on it and one piece in particular has been chromed twice now and still comes back looking like swiss cheese. I took it today to have new brass brazed into the pinholes and also took along the Supervat portafilters I showed last time. I had new metal added to the ears on one of them. Looks a bit scary now! Let's see if I can cut and shape the ears tomorrow. I might do the other portafilter as well, but I need to use it as the template for the repair first so I have something to work from.



It may seem I am jumping the gun messing about with portafilters at this stage when I have boiler work to do, but these will be chromed so I need to get this work done so I only do 1 chrome trip. Likewise the groups are being worked on at the moment as well, I am still cleaning and removing chrome.

Paul -

If the portafilter ears were that worn, how about the corresponding tapered(?) groove in the group(s) ?

Is there any hope that a reduced level manufacturing drawing(s) is available from VA for a machine of this vintage?

Hi Eric,

The groups are ok, so I reckon the broken pf came from another VA machine or was just bad quality. I took the good portafilter and it locks into the same position on each group - so that should confirm that the groups are ok (or that at least one isn't worn away).

VA gave me a book to refer to but no diagrams. I could ask but they are probably on holidays now. Not much info in the book either but enough photos to help me make a few missing pieces.

The repaired portafilter is now taking shape. The precise work was done on the lathe so I could get the ear dimensions correct. The height from the top of the rim to the bottom of the ears determine the lock in position.



The unique shape of the ears was done by hand on a belt sander and with files. It still needs more work but locks in great.



I have also stripped the main body panel of chrome and also the front fascia panel. I did this so that I can see all the dents that I have attempted to hammer out. It is looking much better but still needs a lot more sanding work.






The front fascia panel that was cracked and split open by the rusty frame behind it, has been brazed with silver solder and then I dressed it up, it's hard to see it but it is just inbetween the group body and the hole where it goes in the panel.



Now a word here in case you are wondering why my workbench is an old packing crate. Well I have run out of space. I started 3 other machines before the summer and they are in various states of repair, it drives me mad that they are like this but it's all about combining similar jobs at the same time, e.g. chrome.

I have a Marte and a Mercurio almost done. The Marte needs to be tested, the Mercurio just needs the wiring, both these were waiting for some boiler insulation (Armaflex) which just arrived. Should do these next week.



I have an absolutely amazing Rancilio Z8 that came in a few weeks ago, I am just having a look now to see which parts I need.



Then my pride and joy, a 1948 Gaggia Classica, the first lever machine. The castings on this machine are very bad, so the chrome has proved tricky, full of holes and pits. I've been doing this for several months now. It also needs a new boiler lid. The old one was missing (?) So plenty of jobs to keep me busy!

I was going to comment on how nice that body panel work is coming along. Looks almost nice enough to leave as is for an industrial themed coffee shop, I thought.

Then you go and show the real candy! Wow those machine restorations are beautiful. Knowing your work they're probably in better shape now than when they left the factory floor.

Hi Paul,

Does the Marte have an owner yet? ;-D

Not that I can afford it though...

I find myself looking at these beautiful machines and wonder that even if I had the money, I'd have no space for them in the house.

I find myself being quite envious of your skills... Your threads are always such a beautiful story...

What type of bulb is used in the Mercurio? Mine isn't lit, and didn't realise it was meant to be. Is it a fairly standard type of bulb? I'd like to fit one mine...