Turning Keys Over
LYNDORA — They've taken down the Nick's Body Shop sign from the building at 570 Hansen Ave.
Owner Steve Povlick still has a few projects to wrap up for clients who want their antique and classic cars restored.
But when Povlick turns over the keys to the building in the near future — he believes about June 1 — it will be the end of a business that has lasted almost 100 years.
Povlick said the business was started by Nick Fratto as Nick's Fix It on Jan. 1, 1922, in a different location, “on the other side of town.”
In 1969, brothers Bill and Harry Roth bought the business.
“As I was growing up in high school, I took auto body shop, and that kind of started it for me,” Povlick said.“I began to work with Harry Roth,” he said. “I worked for free to learn my craft as an auto restorer.”Povlick had been working for body shops even before his graduation from Butler Area High School in 1970, including working with Harry Roth.Purchased businessIn 1985, the business moved to its present Hansen Avenue location. In 2004, Povlick purchased the business from Harry Roth.“I was so emotional that day that I almost cried,” he said.In the time since, his daughter, Zoey Povlick, said, “He has been the artist on cars from all over the world. Customers have shipped cars and motorcycles from across the states and even across bodies of water when they saw his work.“My favorite memories as a child were walking down the street at events like Cruise-A-Palooza and my dad pointing out every other car, and the work he had done on it,” she added. “I was always shocked at how numerous his work was.”<iframe width="100%" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XoVrItkeEUc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>His daughter turned out to be a pretty good airbrush artist, her father said.He said regular work includes collision work and rust repair, “but I live for old cars,” he said.An average restoration job can take a year. It wasn't just a matter of buying or finding parts for the restoration of an old vehicle; Povlick often has to make them himself.For older restoration work, he's made his own fenders, door skins and rust repair panels and motorcycle tanks.“These days, there are parts stores where you can buy almost everything,” he said. “When I started doing this, you couldn't do that. Today, you can pretty much buy a hot rod off the shelves.”
What he learned from his mentor, Povlick said, he's tried to pass on.“I've had students,” he said. “I never had employees. They would come out and learn from me. It's really been a one-man shop.”And the one-man shop is winding down.'Groceries on the table'“I just want to say 'thank you' to all the people who entrusted me with their really expensive cars,” he said. “That put groceries on the table and my daughter through college.”Currently, he's got an old 1949 Harley Davidson to finish. Then, he's packing his tools to take back to his Butler Township home and closing up shop.Why retire now? Povlick shook his head and offered several reasons.Dealing with insurance companies has become more and more annoying. And bending metal is a younger man's game, he said. “I'm going to be 70,” he said. “I still like what I'm doing, but it's time.”After years of restoring other people's '67 Camaros and '34 Ford Coupes, he wants to do something for a new client.“It's my turn,” he said. “I want to do something for me.”That “something” looks like the restoration of a 1934 Ford sedan that, when he finishes it, will look like a 1934 model and drive like a new car.<iframe width="100%" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XoVrItkeEUc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
