I just happen to have a 1964 Europiccola with a removable shower screen that was probably sourced from Francesco with that mod. It's now assembled though, but if you were to buy a shower screen the inner diameter would be close to the outer diameter of the brass sleeve.

Something else to keep in mind: You need a version with a screw on top of the sightglass to be able to add an adaptor and manometer. You would still be able to fit a machine with a PSTAT and adjust it using a manometer temporarily attached to the steam wand.

Since I'm building an "ultimate" early '70s model I'm restoring the '64 traditionally. My '61 works very well as originally set up.

(Cough) Four* Pavonis. (Cough)

There's another thread on someone wanting a forgiving machine that heats quickly. Clearly their needs are different, so I haven't posted there. But I just timed it and from switching the machine on to pulling a shot that was anything but a throwaway took 8 minutes, 10 seconds. I used half pumps to quickly get the group up to temperature by infusing it with hot water until it feels hot on the outside. I still don't know whether this first generation machine needs a group thermometer, although I expect to max it out similarly to how it was done here by Franco, who started this thread.




* All Europiccolas:

1961 Europiccola (first made for the U.S.)
1964 Europiccola traditionally restored
1972 Europiccola on this thread
2002 Millennium fully modded out

I did have a fifth and still sometimes regret selling it. It was a second generation two-switch machine used in the Zen Zone thread. I've acquired them over the years to get to know the evolution of the manual lever.

Last night I fabricated and installed the brass pins. The back pin now inserts into a series of ball bearings, both pins are shimmed, and all are capped with stainless steel acorn nuts. The action of the lever feels much smoother with far less play. This setup also uses the brass pins as consumable items and will prevent wear in the parts they mate with. The roller bearing installation doesn't change the feel of moving the lever much, but since they turn it will reduce wear in the lever slot.

In doing this installation, I inserted the brass rod in a drill and applied a file until it matched the 6mm metric size of the original pins. I tried a cheap tap set to create threads in the ends, but that didn't work. Instead, reasoning that the stainless steel acorn nuts are much harder than brass, I used them to cut the threads, and it worked.

Here are photos of the project in progress and completed.

Here's how the roller bearing fits on the rod. I needed to file down the rod so it would thread through the bearing.



If you look closely you'll see a shim on top of the upper bearing on the left. My end width slightly exceeded the old roller on the right.



And here it is installed. I used the machine this morning and am happy I replaced those old, worn pins.



And finally a warning not to overtighten brass. This is an old steam tip I tightened too hard onto a steam wand. Fortunately it's a worn one that's not from my very collectible 1961 Europiccola.

Because the base runs hot with a newer heating element that's controlled with a pressurestat, my first attempt at hammertone ended up in a finish that softened and melted in spots. So, I obtained some engine paint and primer. So here again is the "before" photo.



Then there's the melted first paint attempt.



Here's the latest color for my Ultimate La Pavoni Europiccola. Although the green in the photo looks mottled, the color is a nice, even semi-gloss.