Bringing dreams to life and keeps cars alive

MT. PLEASANT — As the weather begins to warm, car enthusiasts begin to take their pride and joy vehicles out of storage for cruises around town. Before that can happen, however, Auto Technicians like those at Henry County Customs help owners maintain their rides, and so much more.

Henry County Customs owners Levi Evans and Wed Willey make their living helping car lovers realize their automotive dreams.

Located in Mt. Pleasant near the middle school, Henry County Customs perform a wide-range of services on cars, boats, semis, and buses with fiberglass and paint.

They take care of everything from routine safety checks and oil changes to major mechanical issues and restorations of those classic cars gearing up for show season.

From all over Henry County and the surrounding area men and women bring fixer-uppers, family heirlooms, and project cars for Evans and Willey to work their magic.

“It’s the time of year people are getting ready for car shows,” Willey said.

While he does find that many experienced owners of classic cars bring their cars in for maintenance and repairs over the winter, he does hear from a number of others hoping to get some last minute fixes.

Overall, Willey finds that many of these show cars, cruisers, and older daily drivers simply need routine maintenance like any other car.

“I'd also say, in some ways, it's easier to maintain those older cars,” Willey said. “No electronics, so, a basic mechanic can do it in their garage at home if they have the time and some tools.”

Just because the maintenance for these vehicles is relatively straightforward, does not mean the cars are simple, though.

At any given time, Evans and Willey will work a handful of projects that include paint jobs, tuneups, oil changes, and nearly full reconstructions of beloved cars.

Currently, parts of a Black 78 Trans AM take up residence in Henry County Custom’s shop.

“Sometimes I think people might come in here and get scared when they see their car all ripped apart that they've loved for years and go, ‘oh, my God, I hope you can put this thing back together,’ which we can, because we do it every day,” Willey said as he showed the many separate parts of the car laid out.

“This was a beautiful car before we started it,” he said. “It just had some small imperfections in the paint from an old restoration, probably late 90s, early 2000s.”

“This car was probably restored really nicely,” Willey added, “But some of the technology through paint through the years has came a long ways already.”

According to Evans and Willey, a paint job like the one currently underway with the 78 Trans AM will take a few months as they sand blast, prime, sand, and paint multiple layers.

Once finished, however, Willey says, “It’s so shiny you could do your makeup in it.”

Despite claiming the 78 Trans AM as one of his favorite projects, Willey says the best part of his job comes from hearing about the stories and people attached to these cars.

“This truck here is three gentlemen, two brothers and an uncle that own a farm outside of town here,” Willey said as he pointed out the cab of an old pickup truck in his shop. “They're building this truck to just basically haul oats and stuff, but they want it nice. They want a show truck, but still workable.”

A favorite car project memory for Willey revolves around a convertible Cougar brought in by a man named Kim Yoder.

“His car meant a lot to me …” he said. “I believe when him and his wife got married, they had a Cougar, and he was trying to buy that Cougar back at an auction, but it went way too high, so, they bought a different one.”

“So, they were trying to make that into the memory of that,” Willey said with a grin.

Willey’s love for not only the cars he works on, but the people he serves became evident as he continued to give story after story of his favorites.

“I love the ones where we've done the cars where it was their uncles, their uncle bought brand-new,” Willey continued. “Their uncle gave it to them when they were 16. They drove around high school, beat the crap out of it, parked it because it was all roughed up.”

“Now, later in life, they got the opportunity and they're in a place where they could spend the money to have it put back together,” he said.

“The emotion some people have with the connection of these cars is really my favorite part about it,” Willey concluded.

While Willey says he never saw himself doing anything other than this kind of work, he makes it obvious that this is the work he was made to do.

“I love helping people,” he said. “You know how a doctor helps people survive? We help keep their cars alive.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com