Seemed a bit posh to swap out something not broken....but everything I have purchased from Coffee Sensor has been a revelation in quality...this is no exception. I decided to wait until I got the group head sleeve removal tool before installing. Definitely worth the purchase because the original sleeve was in there very tight and I likely would have broken the plastic one getting it out with any other method. The new sleeve was a dream...all the rings and gaskets went on fine by hand (no picks necessary like videos show). Basically cleaned and rebuilt the group head put her back together and WOW!! It is like a totally different machine in many ways. I thought I was just eliminating plastic and doing a bit of pimpin but it is smoother and I am pulling at 9 bars vs. 6 bars (which it previously prefered)...I actually hit 11 without even knowing. Definitely an unexpected upgrade.
This was installed in an Esperto Abile Pro...If you have one the online vids are of B-plus or Coffee Sensor modded group heads the La Pavoni is a bit different. It goes from the top down; Pressure gage with a square nut, Hex nut with a skirt, glue, regular hex jamb nut that limits the downward piston travel all nestled ontop of a bit of thread attached to the piston rod. take 2x 12mm wrenches. Keep the lower one stationary and turn the top one counter clockwise (lefty loosey) glue (locktite) broke easily and I kept the gage and top skirted nut together, removed the lower jamb nut and PUUUUUshed the piston out. On assembly I was a bit worried about getting the piston back in because of the top ring...but once they were squarely mated up to the new sleeve I ran my thumb nail around the lubed gasket pushing it in toward the piston it just popped right in with moderate pressure.
