gilda

GAGGIA GILDA first model anni '50

chronicle of a restoration

It all began by chance one afternoon in February, with a random search of the word "coffee" on a ads roman website, with no expectations, just to kill time. But among the different categories in response one has caught my attention because irrelevant. By the first ad displays a picture unclear, with written Gaggia Gilda, to restore or to use as ornament. Heart skipped a beat and a dive to re-read the details of the ad. In a moment I call, make an appointment, I go out, set the tom-tom, crossing the Tiber, I reach the Vatican and after half an hour I have the Gilda in my hands.

Very dirty and without the power cord (cut because the machine was used as an ornament) reveals a pleasant surprise with the rare original tamper and 1 coffee filter basket. Addition, the owner had personally replaced the original heating element from 125V to 220V.

I am determined to dismantle and rearrange, but I do not know where to begin, so I spend a few days and I have carefully studied the machine schema

I began to remove the base and the power cords of the heating element

then unscrew the pipe for filling the boiler, the lever, loosen the nut of the piston and remove the central nut

I try to separate the boiler body, beating with rubber hammer on the edge below the boiler and with some emotion the bottom comes off

I find a principle of corrosion on the inside of the sleeve of the boiler and several deposits of limestone, then take off the piston and then the heating element

and then start the patient work of cleaning, polishing and search for seals with which to restore the correct functionality of the machine.

Obviously I have to fend but the research is exciting and I tried for about a month in various hardware stores specialized, I asked for help a few friends and eventually my efforts were rewarded

Boiler seal

I replaced the old gasket (diameter approximately 103) with an o-ring 101.27 in diameter and thickness 2.62, slightly smaller but it was enough stretch the seal and stop it with a bit of grease

Heating element gaskets

the original seals were in paper or fiber, so I used two gaskets from 3 / 4 commonly used by plumbers, who have found accommodation perfectly

Piston seals

to find seals for the piston has been the most difficult of all the restoration work, and if I have succeeded only thanks to the availability of a retailer of seals for hydraulic pumps, who adapted two lip seals by removing the protrusion internal

Shaft piston seal

when disassembling the piston rod, there was no seal neither washer, probably the previous owner had forgotten to return it, so I found a small lip seal that fits perfectly and I used a washer like those of La Pavoni Europiccola

Filling pipe seal

here is just use a small o-ring thickness 1.78

Shower seal

After several attempts to find a flat gasket sized to fit in the end I opted for a trivial seal moka, certainly the rubber is not suitable for prolonged use, but to pull some shots test may be fine

At this point everything was ready for reassembling the Gilda

With much patience and great satisfaction I reassemble all the parts, do some attempts to properly align the piston and the lever, struggled a bit to put the wire, the switch and the indicator light in the small space available, put a quart of water in boiler, turn on e. .. incredible ... works!

After a few minutes the steam begins to come out from the pipe, the thermometer goes over 100 degrees, I try to do a couple of coffee ... and finally back to new life nearly 60 years of history and the first home lever coffee machine