I'd like to chime in here. My father and I have countless memories on a 12 foot boat just like that. The boat is older than I am by far, I'm 29. You can keep these little riveted boats going forever. In fact my father patched a small hole in his probably 15 years or so ago with nothing but silicone and a tin can lid, it's still holding strong. As for the leaking rivet, what I have done in the past is drill it out and put a small nut and bolt with a washer on each side sealed with Marine Tex, you can find this at a boating store, it's basically a two part epoxy but cures super hard. If you are looking to strip the boat I have had good luck with Rustolium "Aircraft Remover". It's designed to strip paint from aluminum planes, I found it at Autozone. If you do use this product though, don't use it around your son. This stuff is vile! Wear gloves and do not get any on your skin! Even a small drop feels like someone's putting a needle in your hand, ask me how I know. Pour it into a metal container and use a natural brush to apply it because it will eat right through a synthetic one. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if it softened that fiberglass patch which isn't a bad thing because if it comes off you can see what your really dealing with then. I've had good luck with fiberglass bondo as a patch as long as you apply it to both sides so it can bond to itself and not pop out. (I found this out after my neighbor accidentally shot a hole in my boat.) This stuff works so fast you can basically paint it on, wait 5 minutes and hose the paint right off. It looks to me like that boat had been painted before so it should come off easier than factory paint. If you do decide to paint it again (I wouldn't bother) make sure you spray it with self etching primer first. I found this at Tractor Supply. My original boat was painted a high gloss cream color inside with red outside, it looked great but a high gloss finish gets very slippery when wet. It's now painted solely with self etching primer because it's flat and easy to touch up. The only other recommendation I can make is if your on a lake that's mostly calm, stay away from the higher powered trolling motors. My home lake is 75 acres and a 30lb does just fine where my 55lb just eats battery. A small boat like that I would say use the K.I.S.S. method, (keep it simple...) because the more things you try to add always sound great in theory but tend to get in the way and snag lines, ropes, etc. If you have your heart set on a livewell, they make portable ones which are basically a cooler with an aerator, or you can build your own. Good luck and have fun bringing that old dinosaur back to life! There's nothing better than a father and son making memories in a small boat just like that! I know I wouldn't trade mine for the world. I attached a pic of the stripper and primer, I'm using iPhone so hopefully it shows up. P.S.- I would stay away from the grinder, the stripper will get the job done, if you have areas that need attention use a plastic wheel on a drill or something similar. Stay away from cheap wire brushes because the little pieces of steel break off and can actually imbed in the aluminum and rust.