A few years ago I became tired of loosing my full size wheel covers... I had one NOS one that passed me on the freeway and watched it take off across the Kansas prairie. I knew that once the outer edge of the wheel cover ran down the freeway it was toast. I had been hearing the wheel covers creaking as I drove in and out of the garage and thought that was normal... not! I pulled the other wheel covers off to see what I could do to keep them on tight. I adjusted the teeth on the outer edge of the wheel cover to give them a good bite and put them back on. I found that I could pull them back off with my fingers, not good. In doing a little bit of investigating I found that the teeth were not biting into the new paint or the metal wheels. To remedy this I ran a strip of Gorilla Tape around the inside of the wheel for the teeth bite into, then put the wheel covers back on. Problem solved, no more creaking and I have not lost a wheel cover in four years now. I chose not to use duct tape as it does not hold up well in under heat.
John
Let's see if the moderators can move this to the "Hudson" category
Johm are your wheels painted with normal paint or is it some kind of baked on stuff thats abnormaly hard ?
Roger
Roger,
I think the paint that is on the wheels is acrylic enamel, nothing special.
John
John,
I had planned to have some wheels powdercoated and was concerned about that very thing. In my case, it would be just trim rings that have little mass and may not be a problem anyway. Do you have any difficulty removing the covers now? Maybe they are more or less permanently installed. Are there no nails in the road in Kansas?
Frank
Hi John,
I think Hudson put a little weld on the rim so hubcap would not turn while in motion. Only on 1954s.The hubcap would turn, and would cut into valve stem, and tire would go flat. I don't know if that held the cap on better or not.
Paul
Frank,
Go ahead and have your wheels powder coated... I'll gladly be your retail spplier of beauty rings $$$. I think less mass means it won't pass you on the freeway. I have had to repair one tire that had a slow leak last year, the wheel cover came off without a problem. I just needed to put another strip of tape around the wheel.
Paul,
I did have a problem with the wheel covers rotating also. I was amazed that the wheel fover would rotate 1/2" after going out for a Sunday drive. The tape cured that also. Not only did the 1954 wheels have the weld on the rim, the wheel covers that they came out with in 1954 had a tab that fit into the weld. Not all of the full size wheel covers have that tab.
John
John,
I did not know about the wheel covers having anything done to them.I never stop learning about the 54's. Thanks for info john !! You have about the best looking 54 i have ever seen.
Regards, Paul
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