heat treating to remove dents

I have a old 19' aluminum boat made of 6061 alloy. This is a heat treatable alloy unlike 5052 or 5061. I want to push out dents the best way possible. One thing that confuses me is that i have read that applying heat to the aluminum will ruin the strength of the metal. --- but if it's heat treatable whats the problem? why can't i soften it to 400 degrees max and gently manipulate the metal? doesn't the heat relieve stress from the dent and be benificial to the repair? thanks bill11

Aluminum boats wear their dents, ding, scratches, and gouges proudly! They're not beauty queens, they're endurance kings!

You'll neevr get the dents out, aluminum is soft and stretches when dented... you'll just turn one dent into 3 smaller dents, making it look even worse.

If you want a smoothe finish on your boat, use an aluminum filler and then paint over it. It's the only way you'll get it to look half decent.

thanks for response. ya i know aluminum is difficult. I thought about leaving it alone but decided to restore the boat. Effort, time and frustration are not a factor to me. If they can land a rover on mars then i should be able to fix dents in my tin can. I dont know yet the best method. I thought about welding a patch on the back side after the dent is out to add rigidity. My choices are banging out the dents cold with dead blow hammers.=== Heating the 6061 to a minimum temp to aid in manipulating the metal== using a pulling method like auto body . If anyone has had sucess with any methods please let me know. ( i am not going to use any fillers unless it is weld filler) thanks bill11

Post up some pics so we can see what you've got... you say it's the transom?

i cant do pics for a while. no- the entire bottom has about 10 or so dents and/ or creases from rocks since 1959. A few on the sides from docks to.