Get the correct wheels 

Do these appear to be originals? I believe that they are.... 

Yours look different from what I see online for '54. Don't they?

@john-grossen Near as I can tell Chevy was going through a transition from the clips shown by Russell and the center nubs in your photo. Hubcaps and wheel covers designed for one system will not work with the other. I would assume you have clip type caps if they won't snap on to your wheels. A search of the old site produced the thread linked below. Gene (Chevnut) advises the changeover was likely 53/54 because he advises 54 caps won't work on older wheels. My advise would be to verify that your hub caps are not for clip type wheels.

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@tiny Let me start over, by correcting my question... they are not hubcaps, but they are wheel covers (full wheel covers)... sorry. In this case, the early or late wheel shouldn't matter? correct?

@john-grossen That's out of my area of expertise. I can only go on general experience. Are your covers OEM or aftermarket? I've personally had aftermarket covers that wouldn't stay on. Are your covers held on by spring teeth around the edge? If so, sometimes bending the teeth slightly to get a better bite on the wheel can help.

Notice where the wheel cover "teeth" gripped the rim in the pic's I posted. That is where the covers are suppose to grip.

That's where my wheel covers are gripping the wheel... only difference that I see is your "old style" vs my "new style" wheel. 

I think that I will be bending the teeth on the wheel cover to help... possibly. 

Thanks for you response!

@john-grossen 

Hi John

Bending the teeth on the hubcaps is exactly the thing I had to do to Dad's '81 Pontiac.

Somehow, those teeth slowly wore down until they were almost gone.

Possibly from very slight flexing of the rim over time?  Don't know.

The car did have over 250,000 miles on it when he retired it.

@john-grossen I just did not see the usual scrape marks so I couldn't tell. Good luck!

Hi Everyone,

I have a 1953 Chevrolet Bel-Air that happens to have a mix of the two different wheel styles. I always found that odd when I bought the car 25 years ago, but I can attest that on all four wheels at one time or another the wheel covers work themselves off creating a headache for me chasing after them. I tried the silicone method but found it messy.  The other method that gave me some mediocre success was applying velcro strips on the wheel and on the wheel cover where both meet. 

I don't know if the wheels are out of round or its just due to poor design? I do find it stressful going out each time worrying when they will fall off. Recently I purchased new wheels to mimic the look of having the wheel covers using the Smoothie style with a center cap that has the bowtie painted blue. Not sure if this helps but just know you're not alone.

@victor-vilar 

I had the same problem with a '51 Pontiac years ago.  What I found to work was to note on the wheel surface where the wheel cover teeth grip I used a straight cold chisel to make   several grooves for the wheel cover teeth to grip.  Also try to add some tension to the gripping fingers.   Worked for me.  Billk