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can't keep a '54 hubcap from working loose


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The best looking full disk hubcap on my '54 Riviera loosens up all the time, even when the car is parked. It looks so good I think it might be a repro. Could it be that the spring steel used in its manufacture is so springy that it pushes itself back out of the wheel(It is also the most difficult one to get on).<P>Or maybe the edges of the steel "clips" aren't sharp enough to grab the wheel? <P>Any and all explanations and suggestions welcomed. Or sources for better repros. Seems this one and the originals are made of stainless steel.<P>Thanks

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When I began losing the Super Deluxe wheelcovers from my '59 Electra, I became very concerned. These wheelcovers are not cheap, and the last thing I wanted was to lose or permanently damage the wheelcovers.<P>A dealer in used wheelcovers then showed me how to protect my investment. Simply use a small pair of pliers to bend the prongs outward so that they will better grip the wheel itself. These prongs had been bent inward from forty years of installation and removal.<P>The trick worked for me, and I've never lost a wheelcover since.

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I had a similar problem on my '63 Le Sabre.<BR>The left front wheel cover would ROTATE, not dislodge. It rotated so much that it tore out my tire valve and caused a flat. I have since pried out the metal tabs as described herein and it rotates no more !!!!

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I recently read an article by a wheel and rim manufacturer who recommended that a silicon sealer or other similar glue be used on the tabs. Let it dry first. I have used this idea on my center caps. I used a clear flexible rubber gasket glue, Robert

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The very first day I drove my newly acquired '54 into work, I heard what sounded like a steel garbage can lid rolling down the road next to me, only about a mile or two from the house. I looked out the window next to me, and sure enough, there was my hubcap rolling down 98 South. I pulled over to retreive it (taking my eyes off the still-moving 'cap as I did so), and never found it. I spent over four hours looking for it.<BR>I pried the taps as described (with a needle nose pliers), and never had a problem again. <BR>Just thought you'd like to know for sure that the trick works specifically on the '54s full wheel hub caps.<BR>-Brad

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