More than 100 hours of love and labour has gone into an unusual, but exciting, project at Loewen Body Shop in Steinbach.
Josh Loewen with the shop says an old wagon was brought in from another part of the province for restoration.
"I thought it was just going to be a quick paint job or whatever, and it turned into much more than that," Loewen says, noting around three to four members of the shop's team were involved in the process.
Brian Willoughby led the refurbishment.
He says all the stainless-steel hardware on the wagon—still clad in its original wooden wheels—had to be torn off, as well as the undercarriage, then welding and filler repairs were needed.
"We did those, got it all packed up and out of the booth in eight days," Willoughby says. "It was 10-to-12-hour days, but we got 'er done," he says.
Despite the long hours and even sleepless nights, he says it was fun, and the customer's reaction was more than worth it.
"She was blown away. I think she knew it would be nice, but when she looked at it like she was emotional," Loewen recounts. "It ended with a hug... It was really cool to see."
Written with files from Carly Koop