Restoration or rejuvenation, Paine Street Rod Fabrication makes dreams come true

Hobe Dickey and Mike Paine of Mt. Pleasant have something in common. They both fell in love with motorized vehicles at an early age. For Hobe (short for Hobart), “I was a car kid before I was a car guy. My grandparents had a '50 Oldsmobile with a hydromatic transmission. It was the first car I rode in with a one-piece windshield. As a little kid I could stand up on the front seat between my grandparents and look right out at the fantastic Oldsmobile hood ornament. I thought it was the coolest thing. That's when my love affair with cars started.”

For Mike Paine, owner of Paine Street Rod Fabrication in Mt. Pleasant, “When I was 12, I was the crossing guard at grade school and some little kid was riding down the sidewalk in his Radio Flyer wagon that his dad had put a Brigg's and Stratton Engine on. That started it. I had to have one. My dad wasn't going to build one for me so I built it.”

From there it progressed to Mike building go-carts and mini-bikes. When he was in college he built what they call a T-Bucket — a chassis they built with a Model T, fenderless body, and a late model motor. After college Mike taught auto mechanics and metal shop at Mt. Pleasant Community High School for 30 years. While he was teaching he was also operating a business for fabricating street rods.

Paine Street Rod Fabrication is now one of the premiere rod shops in the Midwest. People come from all over the country and beyond to have a vehicle restored and built into a masterpiece. Mike has four employees, one of whom is a former student of his who has been with him for 20 years. The atmosphere of the shop is so friendly and energized with excitement that people drop in just to watch what's going on.

Hobe, an auto dealership mechanic much of his life, is now one of the employees, and is their exhaust specialist, fabricating intricate designs of exhaust pipes and mufflers for a special fit on a hand crafted street rod. He is also an old car buff, owning 20 or so oldies, 10 of which are licensed and drivable.

However, Hobe doesn't go in for the total restoration, building the oldie into a street rod, and making it look prettier than it was new. No siree. Hobe is of a special breed of collector that likes to keep everything original, even the patina (rust) and just get it running, roadworthy and dependable. His dad was a Buick man, and one of Hobe's prized possessions is a '38 Buick Century, straight eight, three-speed floor shift, foot-feed starter, with sidemount spares, radio, heater and clock (called “nicely equipped”). The reason it's called a “Century,” as Hobe points out, is that it was reputed to go 100 mph (the speedometer goes to 120). It has the Buick Special body with a 320 ci Roadmaster engine. It was popularly known as the “Poor Man's Roadmaster.”

Hobe has customized the fuel system. The engine originally had a two barrel-carburetor. Hobe added a second two-barrel carburetor, one carburetor for the front four cylinders, the other for the back four, called compound carburetion, essentially making it into a four-barrel carburetor. For the perfect period-correct accessory, Hobe added an Allstate (Sears) turn signal. Hobe belongs to a club that's for '36-'38 Buick owners only.

In contrast, Mike might be involved in what's called a “rotisserie restoration,” where the body comes off the frame, and the body can be turned on its side so they can work on the bottom or top — like with a '33 Buick they have. It is a four-door sedan that has been through a fire. Most of the wood supports were burned out, so Paine Street Rod Fabrication is making it into a convertible, with two doors instead of four.

The owner wants a long storage compartment because the trunk lid is only 3'x2', making it hard to put big packages in. So, Mike is making a side door and fabricating a long tube, so the owner can slide golf clubs or an EZ-Up tent in the side. No fool'n. The owner is quite pleased.

Whether it's a complete restoration and conversion to a street rod, or just getting an old vehicle back on its feet, roadworthy and dependable (because it was Grandpa's car or truck), Paine Street Rod Fabrication's only goal is to put a smile on the customer's face. People have been known to cry with happiness when they come to pick up their vehicle.

Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, or email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com.