Hello, these are my longchamps, I am trying to restore them, I recently got them back from my friend who had them for a few years...

http://shoebox5.tumblr.com/search/longchamps

I was wondering, they are 3 piece wheels, welded together, not sealed by a caulking. It seems that they were welded by the factory. I was curious, is it possible to have a rim or wheel shop cut the weld, or separate the outer or front most lip from the whole piece and put a new wider piece?

sorry if i am unclear...

pieces, A (back lip), B (center face) and C (front lip)... is it possible to remove/cut the C portion and replace it with a new one? If so where can i buy a new "hoop/lip"?

The wheel specs are 14x6.5" (i think 6.5"), +7 offset (again, i think) and 4x114. OH and another thing... because they are 14" they have a strange 8 bolt pattern... I've seen the 15" come in 10 bolt, I tried contacting a company, some of you might know, Rotiform Wheels, located in southern California, they unfortunately said they couldn't make the 8 bolt pattern for my wheels. only the larger 15" 10 bolt pattern.

If you want wider, I'd clean them up and sell them and then look for wider wheels.

Yes, that makes the most sense financially, but I have had these wheels for a long time, I love them and don't necessarily want to let them go. Unless I get a majority of people to tell me its just not worth it, then I would think about selling them. But I'd still be more partial to keeping them and having new barrels made... almost like how it would be cheaper to go out and buy a new reliable car, we nostalgic guys buy barely running, sometimes not at all, rusted out, faded, forgotten cars and restore them to our liking. am I right?!

thoughts and comments are all welcome. thanks guys.

No, you're not right.

This is a bad corollary. Because selling narrow wheels and buying wider wheels is not the same thing as selling vintage wheels to buy new/modern wheels (basically what you're saying).

A better way to say it is this; is it smarter to fix up this beat tired old car, or sell it and buy another old car just like it, only in better condition and needing less work?

Yes, I'm saying I am willing to go out of my way, regardless of being able to buy wider better condition wheels, to redo my current wheels. Pride in going above and beyond on a project most would cast aside if a completed or "better condition" project came along. I do however appreciate your analogy policing. Won't happen again officer.

datsunfreak speaks wisdom. If your mate had them for so long and you've thought about selling them, sell them.

money spent on cars is never recovered at the time of sale and that goes for parts as well.

_________________
occasional blog: http://ewokracing.tumblr.com

Brought to you by me as I search Alta Vista for Geocities webpages using Netscape Navigator while listening to Jam & Spoon.

id say hold on to them and save them for a later project, then save up and buy what you want for your current project

Thanks, yes I am probably never going to get rid of them. I found that rotiform wheels makes very awesome custom 15" wheels. I will be ordering a pair of those soon...