Hi Ronin, Hmmm, now you've got me thinking.... It's a possibility, but there are threaded bolt holes recessed just up from the bottom edge, so it can sit properly on the top of the group head. It's not as simple as just cutting the bottom of it; the wall thickness would need to be turned down on the inside as well. Not sure how the alloy casting would take to being turned on lathe. It would also require a custom spring made, as for the smaller body there's no 'standard' spring available anymore. The larger body size on the right, I'm still able to get off the shelf parts for, such as the lever rod and 165mm spring. I'm thinking perhaps the pressure profile with the bigger body / longer spring might have a gentler curve too (?) The larger size seems to be much more common, and from what I've read seems to work quite well on the Lambro. Another alternative is to repair the original small casting, but not sure how long lasting it would be with a custom made piece somehow fitted to it. I doubt it's solderable - it would need to be mechanically fixed. The bit that's broken off the original, is the lever stop for the upright position, which needs some strength to it. So there you have it - the path of least resistance at this stage seems to be to just go with the larger body size. 🙂
