lawn Tractor Shoot

Good Morning,
Well it rained here in town last night; today I am going to rivet a new piece of plastic on my lawn tractor shoot on my old LX 176 Lawn Tractor. You can see the condition of the shoot in the photo below.

Well I got the job done but I am not sure that it will hold up; the piece is strong but not as strong as the flexible old shoot. It looks good; if I would of glued an old piece of my old "T" Shirt then maybe it would last. In the bottom photo I am wearing the "T" shirt on the dam at lock 50..