re: Anyone ever stick welded aluminum? (Boat repair/patchwork)

I've never heard of good experiences using those rods, especially not on thin aluminum. I'd use Alumiweld brand rods before I used those. The alumiweld rods are actually very effective if used exactly to spec.

No way I'd trust that setup as it is right now with those screws, but with 3 items you can make it good enough for gov'ment work: 1) Marine 5200 2) Marine silicone 3) Rivnuts from harbor freight (item # 1210) and maybe some rubber washers with stainless hardware to be safe.

I'd clean that aluminum up again, match your drill bit size to the EXACT spec of the rivnut hole diameter, drill em out, and then apply the marine 5200 and tighten everything down with the rivnuts while caulking the bolts and rivnuts to be thorough. Caulking with silicone would give you the option to remove them later- unlike if you used marine 5200 to caulk with.

Those rivnuts are legit. I've used hundreds of them and in many applications the rivet has a bolt screwed in and out of it daily. The rivnut tool kinda sucks regarding longevity, but it's harbor freight. The rivets themselves are much more secure than those screws, as well as using standard aluminum pop rivets.

If not tig welded, that's what I'd do; that, or use Alumiweld rods and even then I'd still back the weld up with rivnuts or some type of fastener. (The Alumiweld BRAND rods can also be bought at harbor freight, although they are not a HF product. Per usual with welding aluminum, you have to use a clean, STAINLESS steel brush and acetone and clean your joints up really well and, at a minimum, use a MAP gas torch to heat the joints.)

I just think of yall got out in some tooth rattling chop that those screws are gonna shear. That's my .02 cents on it anyway.