Well dear readers, in just a few posts tonight our story will come to an end. The last of my parts came in which allowed me to do my final assembly. I will cover the final steps of fitting the handles, rebuilding the steam valve and then unveiling the machine. I was going to drag this out a bit, but I am very pleased with the results and can't wait to show them off. So let's get going.

With the handles and caps coming in, it's time to fit them on the machine. First the portafilter:



Now the lever:



And the cap... Let me know how you like the triangle. This is something that Les and I worked out and this piece has a lot of hand carving on it to get this shape. It bolts onto the chrome base and then there is a burl cap that covers the screw:





The quality of Les' work is just fantastic. I really wish the pictures could do his handles full justice.

Since I had to get the steam knob custom fitted to the valve post, I had to send the entire piece to Les. With it back now I could finish rebuilding it. The valve is a pre-update version and looks just like a valve that you would see on your sink faucet. Steps include replacing the washer on the valve:



There is a rubber plug on the bottom of the valve that screws in and will act as the main shutoff:



The valve then screws into the neck of the steam arm and a brass nut holds it in place:



Les' steam knob fits over this and screws into place:



And the final step is to pop on the burl plug to finish it off.



That is the last step to the rebuild. Now all that is left to do is put it all together. All parts accounted for and all washers and gaskets used...

This will probably be the last post in this thread for me. I would like to thank everyone who helped on this project, the comments while writing this and all of the words of encouragement from my fellow LMWDP members and the great members of HB. I'll start another thread on using the machine, but with 4 pages of posts and almost 3000 views, I thought it would be best to finish this off with simply the pictures of the machine.

Enjoy....

Ohhhh...

Ahhhh...

*drool...*

Steve-
She's beautiful! Thanks to you, my wife is going to kick my butt and Les is getting some of my hard earned cash! Those new handles are magnificent!
Bravo my man... can't wait to see how you like her in action.
Pt

A beauty, definitely yes. And I think I've said this before but I'll say it again: Great to see the machine get the TLC it deserves!

Personally I might have gone for a cap in a style similar to the steam knob instead of the triangle - but that's just me. Regardless, the finish on the handles and knobs look impressive.

Br,
Teme

Hi Steve,

Richard Wagner liked to use the the term Gesamtkunswerk for his creations. I think this term applies here as well. It surely has been a collective project with many contributing. But it is your opera and I feel like shouting Bravissimo!

Of course the story to date has been an overture on a grand scale. Let the music begin.

Thanks for all the kind words. New thread on usage will start shortly. Teme, it is hard to get a good view of the boiler cap unless you see it in person. I had it over for an early morning Jam at Dan's house....I will let him comment on the triangle.

I'm with Steve on this one - Les' wood handles are superb. Plus the triangle nicely compliments Olympia's contemporary logo:



Overall I would say the combination of high-gloss black powdercoat, sunglasses-required brightwork, and rare wood custom handles have put this restoration way over the top. Congratulations Steve, a real class A job. Let's talk more offline about the next restoration job you offered to do for me involving the carbon fiber faceplate and 1/4" thick brushed stainless steel sides, OK?

Back to this this morning - Steve wasted no time getting in the groove pulling delightfully smooth shots. The second and third boasted beaucoup crema, I suspect because of the higher pressure compared to my spring-powered lever (huh? do I detect "lever envy"?). I wasn't able to convince Steve to install a brew gauge like Lino's Peppina to confirm my theory:


Lino's Peppina with tapped grouphead for brew gauge and thermocouple

By the way, I'm lobbying Jim Piccinich at 1st-line to sponsor Steve's next project, a formal Bench review of the latest Olympia Cremina:

Olympia Cremina 2002

Steve explains that it incorporates innovations not present in his '67, and I know nobody more qualified to review it. If you're considering the Cremina and would like to see such a review, send a note to Jim (sales@1st-line.com). Given enough requests, perhaps we can persuade him to offer an HB member discount too?

srobinson wrote:And then you can put the valve back together. You want to make sure that when this is under higher pressure that the plug can rise up on the spring and allow the steam to blow through the holes in the valve. I will be rigging up a pressure gauge to this to make sure I have it dialed in correctly since you can manually adjust the spring pressure. With one additional brass washer it goes right on top

Did you manage to hook up a pressure gauge here? Any advice on adjusting the pressurestat and relief valve?