It is winter here in Western Massachusetts and I must have gone over some high snow or something. One of the front mud flaps is now hanging by a single rivet. I did a search and saw a bunch of similar occurances. There seem to be two schools of thought on this. One is to try and fix it with Volvo rivets, the other is to just put the screws and nuts in there. On the screw and nut solution, how do you get behind the plastic wheel well shroud? I could not figure it out. There seems to be no access to where I would want to put the nut. Anyone done this and can guide me?

Thanks!

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Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 (approaching 200K miles and rolling on...) - hers

Degalina posted a solution to this problem a long time ago. Get a packet of Drive rivets at Home depot, they will be in the home siding section. They are white, but a little dab of black paint works wonders.

If the hole in the mud flap is now too large, you might want to put a thin washer on the rivet to help it stay on.

You cannot get any tools behind the inner fender to put in a nut and bolt.

If you do not want to do it yourself and don't want to purchase a rivet gun, I suggest going to a local body shop and have them do it. Their labor rates are MUCH less than a dealer.

Klaus
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The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are a 95 854T and a 98 V70R :)

Great! Thanks. I didn't think you could get the nut behind there, but I did a search before posting and saw people suggesting a nut and bolt solution. It was on an 850, not an S70, maybe that matters. Anyway, I am not against buying a rivet gun, it will still be less expensive than a body shop, most likely and I will get to keep the tool. Now, the way the flap fastening failed to the best of my analysis is that rivets lost their outer "washer" thingie and the flap just came off the resulting studs. I may be lucky in that instead of the flap failing, the rivets failed. It's too cold and snowy right now, but I will check this tomorrow. If this is the case, can I just buy Volvo rivets? Are they that much more expensive than Home Depot ones? We are talking 4 pieces here, not 4000. In any case, I am a total rivet gun newbie and need some guidance on what to get in terms of the tool. Are there different sizes? different types? What am I looking for? Do Volvo rivets work with normal hardware store rivet gun or do I need to use a special Volvo rivet driver that costs more than my S70?

TIA
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Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 (approaching 200K miles and rolling on...) - hers

I don't know the cost of the rivits, but HD sell them in packs of 50. Besides, you need to get a cheap rivet gun anyway. Plus, the other mud flap is going to be loose also.

You will have to drill out the center of the plastic rivet before pulling it out. Just a small drill bit will do it. I am afraid your wheel have to come off to get good access... Sorry about the rotten weather.

Klaus