1948 Holdsworth La Quelda restoration

A nice barn find just north of London

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XGGGAYL6YXHPPsZh8

Serial number 8853 according to the frame numbers on retrobike, but earlier according to

http://nkilgariff.com/HoldsModelPages/LaQuelda.htm (shows a 1948 La Quelda with number 9017 and mentions one with serial 9444.)

The guy I got it from saved it from the skip as the nephew of the original owner wanted to get rid of it.

It's been kept stored for decades.

5 Attachments

What a fantastic find! Thank goodness your seller saved it.

Can’t wait to see the paint after a gentle cleaning!
Great find.

Subbed

Oh wow... How nice is that paintwork! Here's to hoping git's not permanently buried beneath the ming of time.

Can't wait to see how you get on with this!

Tyres, cables, lube, ride

eheh I wish. I need to replace the grime in the BB as well...
And those cotter pins are stubborn.

Paint should come out quite nice once I receive the products to clean it up

That’s lovely. I found a 1958 Holdsworth Monsoon in a skip about 11 years ago. Got Mercian to restore it to its former glory by paint matching the inner fork crown and getting reproduction decals printed up.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with yours.

1 Attachment

No repaint for sure 👍

That’s a lovely colour and a great find too

Matchy, matchy...

1 Attachment

indeed :)

show us more. Was this re-painted by you?

No, it was painted by Argos cycles in flamboyant blue. It’s your bike’s little sister as when I dated it it looked like a 1948 too. I didn’t restore it period correct but we love it. We were very lucky to find one so small. Built it up for the missus :)

1 Attachment

if you got the serial number we can check.

I’ll see if I took a note of the serial number. I bought it off here as a powder coated single speed that cavendish cycles had converted previously. When we took it on a vintage bike run, someone who seemed to know what they were talking about thought it may have been custom made by Holdsworth because of it’s tiny size. Can’t wait to see what you do with yours. Lovely bike and a great find!

Cheers.
It is a great find.

It should have the serial below the bb or on the side of one of the rear dropouts.

Under my cat's supervision, we're getting somewhere nice

3 Attachments

Does not disappoint. Excellent project manager you've got there, look forward to the next update!

The best manager I could hope for.

Looking great,What products have you used?

Products from Crankalocious.
They're very gentle, no damage to paint, decals or lining at all. And they did bring back some lust.
Gonna try some paint renovator + polish from Autoglym to see if it can shine more. I'll be careful.

Careful steel wool cleanup.

6 Attachments