Lost a hubcap from my 54 Meteor.

[rjlester]

Hey guys, a while back I lost a hubcap from my Canadian 1954 Meteor with a Flathead. I have never posted any of my videos here before myself, but here is the YouTube video of when I lost that hubcap, and my hunt to try to find it. I think someone else posted one of my videos here before I even knew about this forum (thanks by the way) when I first got the engine started after sitting for 55 years.

If it's inappropriate for me to post my videos, please let me know. If it's ok, in the future I will have more videos about this car, there is a ton of footage for me to edit of the last year or so of me working on the car.

https://youtu.be/R3F1DA6R4LA

[GaryU.]

Had that happen to a Spider Cap on my 1938 Convertible in my neighborhood. Looked and looked to no avail. Had a couple out for a walk ask what I was doing and after giving up to go to a "Cars and Coffee" event nearby got a text from my wife that they found the cap and posted it on the neighborhood facebook account. It rolled way father then I would have thought possible then turned at the cross street and went downhill a LONG ways before stopping. Have seen your videos before and will have to check out more, a neat car you saved from sitting!

[fordv8j]

put name and phone number in mine; with reward for return

[CaliforniaBorn36]

Lost a cap off my 36 so now I put 3 or 4 dabs of RTV on them when installing. Haven't lost one since.

[rjlester]

Originally Posted by fordv8j

put name and phone number in mine; with reward for return

That's a good idea, I will definitely do that.

I did bend the tabs out and they are a bit hard to put back on, but they don't come off anymore. I have put over 3000 miles on the car since the video was recorded, and haven't had one come off in that time.

The dabs of silicone are also a good idea.

[54Meteor]

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I have a f/g mold for 1954 Meteor hubcap centre…after you make it, paint black and gold and put it on a 1954 Ford hubcap…comes with original used to make the mold and one new f/g centre painted black. $20. + postage.
Can send pics.

[rjlester]

I am totally interested in this! Those hubcap centers are very hard to come by. Please send me the pics, or post them here. I have been wondering how to make new ones for quite some time.

[rjlester]

Ok so it has been almost two years since I had the hubcap falling off issue. A couple weeks ago I replaced my front tires after two years of not even removing the hubcaps. Tire installation went ok but man, those hubcaps kept falling off once I put them back on again! The first time it happened at 65mph and it was a loud BANG! Long story short, I had 4 instances at over 60mph and once at 30mph and thankfully I found them each time. I now have my name and address/phone number written inside.

Here is how I fixed it. I tried putting The Right Stuff on all the tabs/teeth. Next day I got one mile down the highway before losing one. I painted tremclad on the rims to get the hubcap teeth to "bite" into something. Also only lasted one mile. Neither solution worked in my case.

Then I had enough and bent the tabs/teeth (for the third time) with a pliers, but got quite aggressive with that, and how much angle there was etc, etc. In order to put them back on the rim, I had to sit down and use my feet with running shoes to hold the hubcap and use a small mallet to get them on. Basically, very difficult to get them back on.

THAT WORKED! Drove down a gravel road with lots of washboard and they never came off.

Hope this helps anyone else with this issue.

How about that 54Meteor guy with the hubcap molding that wants 20 bucks for new ones and doesn't post again? I'm really interested in this but never heard back. I'll try a personal message again...

[mercman from oz]

1954 Meteor Full Wheel Cover

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by rjlester

Then I had enough and bent the tabs/teeth (for the third time) with a pliers, but got quite aggressive with that, and how much angle there was etc, etc. In order to put them back on the rim, I had to sit down and use my feet with running shoes to hold the hubcap and use a small mallet to get them on. Basically, very difficult to get them back on.

THAT WORKED! Drove down a gravel road with lots of washboard and they never came off.

Hope this helps anyone else with this issue.

I only have one surviving full wheel disk for the 52 Merc and I gave up trying to keep that on the car. I run the smaller "poverty caps" that snap on tight and will never fall off.

[mercman from oz]

1954 Meteor Poverty Hubcap

[Mr meteor]

Just stumbled on this thread. I bought a '54 Meteor Niagara Special and it didn't come with any hub caps. I don't expect to be able to find any but I'm curious if other more 'generic' ones will fit. I'm pretty new to owning an old car, so any suggestions are appreciated.

[38 coupe]

I think the wheels are the same 15" as the regular Ford wheels and any Ford hub cap from the early 50s should work. From the images in this thread it looks like you might be able to take a normal Ford hubcap and attach a Meteor center on to make it look correct. Given that the person who posted about fiberglass reproduction Meteor centers had exactly that one post ever on the Ford Barn you probably won't be able to contact the person, but maybe you could do the same yourself using a borrow hubcap or a single good Meteor hubcap.