A shop that keeps this hobbyist busy with his classic car projects.
Mick Rau / Council Bluffs IA
Mick Rau is a retired railroader and a life-long car guy. “Growing up, my dad drove AMCs,” he says. “When I turned 16, I bought several older Chevys and Fords, but only owned one at a time. Then when I turned 20, I bought a 1970 AMX that was just a year old. I remember my dad was proud of me for buying an American Motors product.” Over the years Mick continued to work on cars in his spare time in his 30 x 14-foot garage that includes a 13-foot ceiling height,” he added. Mick continues to perform his own bodywork and paint on his vehicles, and the shop is equipped to take on any sized project.
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When Mick built his 1955 Chevy 210 sedan, he painted the exterior an attractive Nissan color named Black Gray. It’s powered by a Chevrolet Performance 427 crate-engine backed by a four-speed manual transmission with an overdriven fourth-gear ratio of 0.73:1. He pirated the 3.73:1 8.8-inch rear axle from a 1993 Ford Explorer and narrowed to accommodate wider wheels. Mick mini-tubbed the rear wheel wells as well.
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During its rotisserie restoration, Mick painted his 1953 Chevy 210 convertible Viper Red. A 1985 Camaro donated its TPI small block and 700R4 automatic transmission, and a 1978 Camaro supplied the 8.5-inch 10-bolt rear axle with 3.73:1 gears. Body modifications include frenched lights front and rear. Most exterior ornamentation was removed.
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This 1955 Ford Fairlane Sunliner is among Mick’s newest projects. He plans to keep the body mostly stock appearing, possibly painting it blue, but plans to add a suspension lowering kit. He expects to power it with a 312-inch Ford Y-block with triple two-barrel carburetors and an automatic transmission.
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Mick recently painted this 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria in Torch Red. He’s in the process of installing a new interior and lowering the suspension.
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Reminiscent of his original AMX, Mick bought this 1970 AMX in Commodore Blue. Under hood is a 401 with Indy cylinder heads, an Edelbrock intake manifold, and Hooker headers. It’s backed by a four-speed manual transmission and 3.90:1 gearing.
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On the lift is Mick’s 1948 Chevy six-passenger coupe. Painted maroon, it features frenched lights front and rear and a louvered hood. It uses Ford Mustang II suspension up front, a coil-over setup at rear, and a modified 265-inch Chevy small-block V8 with a Turbo-350 automatic transmission.
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Keeping Mick’s garage warm during the cold Iowa winter is a natural-gas-fired Renzor Model F 100-series heater rated at 50,000 BTUs.
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In the corner of the shop is Mick’s Campbell-Hausfield compressor with 5 hp motor and 60-gallon tank. It provides a sufficient quantity of the compressed air that’s required when painting or operating the blast cabinet.
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For metal shaping, Mick has a pneumatic planishing hammer and a vintage sheet metal roller.
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A pair of 110-volt furnace blowers exhaust paint fumes as well as cool the garage on hot summer days.
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On a single tool cart are Mick’s most valuable resources. His 110-volt Miller 135 wire-feed welder is ideal for the general body work he performs so often. He considers his Hypertherm Powermax 380 plasma cutter the most important tool in his garage. He uses it regularly to remove rusty body panels or for such modifications as frenched headlight and taillight treatment.
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Because he feels that cherry-picker-type engine hoists can consume valuable storage space, Mick prefers to use his Dayton electric winch for such tasks. He has mounting eyelets placed strategically throughout his garage so he can pull engines in a variety of locations. Before purchasing an electric winch, he used a mechanical direct-differential winch. He says it was produced by James H. Channon Manufacturing Company during the ‘30s
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A vintage 220-volt, 225-amp Lincoln welder is used for larger jobs that might otherwise tax the welding capacity of the Miller 135.
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