Need opinions on my Grumman

Hello everyone , I picked up an older Grumman 1437 . My first Alum. boat ever . Iam looking some ideas on doing some repairs. The transom wood was shot . What i have done so far is , I have tightened the rivets , used marine-tex on a couple small bad spots . I have sealed the bottom and used the etching primer on the bare spots and the second primer coat is finished now .
The help i need is what to do with the transom , i picked up plywood and resin to replace the 1 1/2 inch thick transom . The outside alum of the transom is pretty rough. Holes need sealed and pitting is present also . i considered using the rest of the marine tex to fix the holes and make it smooth again and use it to seal a new piece of alum. over it . The alum thats there to me seems to be ... warped or almost like its flimsy ... or as if it won't sit flat when the wood is back into place . How should i fix , or prep the back ( outside ) of the transom ? The owner before me had put a stainless steel plate ( about 60 lbs ) over it and bolted it thru and sealed it to the alum. ( unknown sealer ) they had a 30 hp engine on the boat :shock: .
Iam concerned about the extra weight if i add the stainless piece back . I can't find a welder local who don't want a crazy price to weld a new alum piece in . Iam also wondering about the brace , which appears factory but its not in the center , it about 10 inches from the center .

Thanks for reading , and please feel free to comment
Jimmy

oh heres a couple picture , of sorting thru it .

Update your profile with your location. Shouldn't be too hard to find a welder that will do it decent, post an ad in craigslist.

The bad thing is you can buy a new Tracker 1436 for $600 or so...

Jamie

Thanks , about 250.00 to 300.00 is what prices i have got . Iam just going to use marine-tex and seal the piece they had on the back before. If it leaks , i'll scrap it .

Doesn't seem that long ago that i posted this, The boat is still not done . Man i need to get back onto this thing