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Location: Green Bay, WI | That would depend upon your background, I suppose. For some guys with fiberglass experience, it would be easier to re-glass a damaged area. However that is still a pretty labor-intensive process to get right...and you need the same color gel coat in order to match the surrounding surface, just like with painting an aluminum surface. If you are just going to rivet a patch on an aluminum skin though, then that's pretty easy. Any aircraft mechanic will have a rivet gun, some bucking bars and some rivets. So if you can get access to the backside of the damaged hull section, you can make a very nice repair in less than the time it takes your glass repair to cure. Of course there is still paint to be applied, so that time/skill will need to be factored in.
So repairing either hull is really dependent upon what a guy is most comfortable with. I have done repairs on both types of materials, and prefer to repair aluminum via riveting, since that's more of my background. However I've never welded aluminum, and that might also be an option. The thing about a riveted patch though, is that it's applied on the surface, so it's going to be more noticeable than a glass repair that can be feathered in and sanded smooth. So that may be a factor for consideration as well.
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