Wheel cover advice needed please

[jfnar]

I'm attempting to use full P01 wheel covers with the wheels shown below. The PO called them ralleys but I'm not sure. I probably should have had the wheels sandblasted but I'm low on time and $$ so I just sanded them and brushed a coat of POR Hardcoat on. They appear to have had multiple previous coats of paint on them. They cured for a couple weeks before putting on the tires and then 6 or 8 weeks before I put the covers on. The wheel covers were very tight and difficult to put on. I used a rubber hubcap mallet and pounded them all in as far as they would go but I lost one after about 50 miles of driving. As you can see the cover took quite a bit of the black paint with it. Is it possible that too many coats of paint are making the fit too tight? Should I sand that area down to metal and re-paint? Any suggestions will be appreciated.