-Messenger photos by Hans Madsen
Kalo Kustoms Garage co-owners Tom Krough and his daughter Hannah Krough hold a few vintage cans of oil and other automotive fluids found in their Kalo shop. It will often get customers to buy some of the old cans.
KALO — Tom Krough, co-owner of Kalo Kustoms Garage in Kalo, is a pretty lucky guy.
He gets to spend every day he works at the store with his daughter, Hannah Krough. She is the other co-owner.
“Is perfect”, said Tom Krough. “We’re on the same page all the time.”
“The only time we butt heads is when I’m thinking about how something should be done,” Hannah Krough said. “He lets me make my own mistakes.”
Tom Krough describes the business as a “Hot Rod Repair Shop” which is just one of the things they do. They also do custom work and restorations, and are often the ones called upon to help someone who has been working on an automotive project and for whatever reason got bogged down.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Kalo Kustoms Garage co-owners Tom Krough and his daughter Hannah Krough check the air filter on their Ford Stiletto, an unusual variant of the Ford Pinto, in their Kalo shop.
“We will help you overcome any problems you have in your project”, he said “It’s for when you don’t want to. We don’t mind picking up.”
Krough also works on and tunes vintage engines.
“Many shops replace things, we repair” he said “A lot of stores don’t even know how to treat points.”
Hannah Krough is a graduate of Iowa Central Community College’s auto body repair program. Coming to work with his father seemed like the perfect way to use his skills. Tom Krough has spent his working and recreational life fixing things, building things, and creating various projects.
“I’ve always been a problem solver,” he said
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Clifford, “The Big Red Dog,” watches as Kalo Kustoms Garage co-owners Tom Krough and his daughter Hannah Krough look at their 1966 Sunbeam Alpine. It’s one of several rare and unusual cars the Kroughs have restored at the shop when they don’t work on client projects.
“The textbook gave me the knowledge,” she said “Dad gave me the hands-on experience.”
The interior of the shop has the pleasant atmosphere of a cross between museum, man cave and shop. Along the walls, shelves hold old oil cans, car parts, various car-related things, old tools, and a few other things that only cars can really identify
Occasionally, Krough will sell an item or two to people who come to visit.
“I should tag everything” he said “With the price of oil, that old can is worth at least $5.”
They both enjoy visiting the store with customers and friends.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Kalo Kustoms Garage logo added to Tom Krough co-owner of 1948 Corsley “A Fine Car” brought back to life.
“We meet a lot of interesting people” he said “It’s easy to talk to people in the car.”
The Krough team is more interested in producing a custom vehicle for their customers that can be driven. Sometimes this means fitting modern components like disc brakes to older cars to give the customer a better driving vehicle.
“We make drivers” she said “We want them to be used. They don’t want a vehicle that they own, they want to be the owner of the vehicle.”
The Kroughs often allow customers to come in and help alongside them. They said this helps give the owner a sense of sweat equity and a sense of ownership that customers enjoy.
“We like it as much as they do” he said
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Kalo Kustoms Garage co-owner Tom Krough looks at his 1948 Crosley “A Fine Car.” at his shop in Kalo. Krough left the exterior as he found the car, the interior is new. The stroller was sold by the Gambles Hardware store chain and was sized to fit through the doors of their store. The car gets about 50 mpg.
When not busy with client work, Krough can often be found working on one of his many personal car projects.
You won’t find any Mustangs or Camaros here. They like the unusual.
“We really like unique cars for our own collections,” she said
“It’s often something people don’t hear a lot,” added.
A good example of this is his 1948 Crosley “a good car” which was salvaged, mechanically restored and then fitted with a new interior. The exterior was left as found, rusted with a lot of paint missing. It has a lot of character.
“They were sold through Gambles hardware stores,” he said “They’re small enough to fit through the doors.”
The Crosley was quite innovative. The small engine has an overhead cam, unusual at the time. It’s also a gas guzzler. Krough said it averages about 50 mpg. On the downside, it’s only meant to be driven at 35 to 40 miles per hour, at most.
“The manual warns you not to go 50 mph for an extended period of time,” she said
Kalo Kustoms Garage is located at 2490 Hilltop Drive and can be reached at 515-269-3813.
Customers who show up will be greeted by Clifford, one of the shop’s friendly dogs.
“It’s the big red dog,” said Tom Krough.
