I just bought a 1978 12ft gamefisher and it looks like someone unloaded a round or 2 of bird shot in it. I believe it is salvageable.  what should I use to fix this? also what should I do about missing rivets.  I found some aluminum boat repair stuff on cabelas and I also found some stuff called gluvit should I plug holes with the cabellas stuff and then coat the bottom with gluvit?  please give me some ideas

when i got it it looked like there was bondo on the boat so I sarted chipping the bondo.  I figured I would regret it if I didn't fix it right I think I could turn this into a nice river/lake boat.  I have a 2hp yamaha and a 50lbthrust minn kota and a eagle cuda fish/finder. This will be the second boat conversion I have done.

Clean it up down to bare metal and then throw it in your truck and take it to somebody who can weld aluminum. It will be over and done with, fixed right and you will never have a leak in that spot ever again.

A few years ago I had a 1963 14' aluminum V hull and I had about a dozen missing and loose rivets. Took it to a guy and we spent all afternoon sweating, cussing and replacing rivets trying to get that boat watertight. We did a fairly good job on it but welding would have been faster, cheaper and more effective. If I had to do it over again I'd skip the rivets and sealers.

I personally would NOT weld on an aluminum hull, any time you heat metal you change it's charachteristics, you may create an area that is brittle, or soft and therefore unrepairable. I suggest that you take it to a shop that does aluminum hull repair and have them patch, and rivet as needed. i have had repairs like this done in the past, the cost has never been over $100, and I have been 100% happy with the results.

good luck, Joe