Welcome! good to see another Hawk

Was alarming how much movement there was with the heat so am patching with bondo.  Center strip is fairly abused so will paint anyway.  The PO moved the cleat to the very bow but I am moving back.  Did get new lights to install....old ones were not original and in poor condition.  

Tried the brazing rods but the heat really made the aluminum distort so am using bondo like I would for a car.  

You could also do what I did. Bought the number and letters at my local ACE hardware store.

I use a contrasting color background for my registration numbers to help hide the discoloration from previous numbers.  I use Oracal vinyl sheeting.  It holds up really well.  At least until you smack a dock.

You can get that material on ebay.  I have a guy on ebay do the actual numbers which are computer generated, straight and properly spaced.  He's pretty reasonable and really fast.  Dave Shabastari.  Not sure how he spells it, but I can chase that down if you are interested.  If needed you can go with a more bold font to stretch the lettering out.  Let him know what the overall length is to cover the discolored area.

Hot dog, another Hawk on the water!

Cheers,

Merky
Lilburn

 

Are you planning on reinstalling the lights? Are there holes from a windshield?
Mounting sub plates for lights or other hardware works very well to cover old sins.
If you’re considering painting or polishing the center trim strip then all kinds of flush patches are easy to make and install.
If you do attempt any kind of welding or brazing, approach with great caution, this thin Aluminum sheeting can react to heat in unexpected ways. If you plan on polishing that strip of trim, most welding rods and rivets are a slightly different color from the base alloy.

If the holes are to large for a rivet a carriage bolt would do the job. You could also mount a bow light or bollard cleat over them using an aluminum spacer if needed to cover the holes.

Looks like a torch/rod would fix that with some preparation! Or remove and replace?

If all the problem holes are in that center strip that’s a good thing, there are several ways of patching those, then painting or polishing will cover them up. 

Here are the worst holes.