Never Enough Performance opens doors of new shop in Mondovi

Chris Rugowski

Contributor

October 28, 2024

MONDOVI – “Never Enough” is a phrase and a mindset Nate Paffel said he has embraced his entire life.

Regardless of how fast he is, how strong he is, how much money he has or even how much horsepower he has under the hood – he said he lives the idea through and through.

Spanning a life full of experiences from being a Megatruck mud racer, with the truck named “Never Enough;” to being a competitive bodybuilder and running a nutrition business; to climbing the leadership ladder in the corporate world, Paffel said the mindset has remained.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Paffel said he realized doing things for others would never be enough for him, so he put it all aside and started his own business, Never Enough Performance LLC.

A new business in town

The biggest takeaway Paffel said he’s had since opening Never Enough Performance – a power sports fabrication and repair shop at 760 W. Main St. in Mondovi – is simple: he doesn’t have a quit button.

An example of this, he said, is when he bought the building he’s in now.

Paffel said he knew it needed a lot of work to get it to where he could effectively work in it.

Regardless of the work it took to get the building to that point, he said he was determined to turn the shop into an oasis where he wanted to work and where he could have multiple projects going on at a time. 

Paffel said the building – which he purchased in July 2023 – was an old concrete building built in the 1950s, and it required quite a bit of work, which he did with the help of his parents, local trade workers and YouTube.

He said the community as a whole has been “super supportive” and has helped him tremendously in this endeavor.

“They were excited that there was somebody else coming into town,” he said.

A jack-of-all-trades mechanic

Paffel said he works on all types of power sport vehicles – including snowmobiles, ATVs, side-by-sides, UTVs and motorcycles.

He said his philosophy is, “if it has an engine, I can fix it.”

“If it’s power sports related, the possibilities are endless,” he said.

This is where Paffel said he excels – holding himself to a very high standard.

“If somebody brings something to me, it’s not leaving until it’s fixed,” he said. “I’ve had people call and tell me the person who was looking at it couldn’t figure it out. That’s where I take pride in my work, I will figure it out for you.”

Though he has expertise in fixing engines, Paffel said his real passion lies in building custom things.

“It doesn’t really matter if it’s a custom bumper, a plow on a side-by-side or if someone wants to do an engine swap, I can make it happen,” he said.

Paffel said a recent project where he took a Corvette motor and put it in a 1950s truck, or one he is currently working on where he is taking a Dodge 6.7L Cummins and putting it into a 1979 Ford SuperCab are the projects that get his creative juices flowing.

“If it’s power sports related, the possibilities are endless,” he said. “My favorite part is creating something that I know not very many people would be able to do and challenging myself with new things.”

Paffel said though he focuses mainly on power sports vehicles and cars, he’ll work on just about anything.

One time, he said he had a tractor come in that needed the hydraulic cylinder fixed because it was leaking.

Paffel said he tore the cylinder apart and made a brand new shaft on his lathe tool because the part was so old you couldn’t find it anymore.

“I enjoy tearing something apart, reverse engineering and then improving it better than the original,” he said.

A long history of learning

Paffel said he has a long history in power sports and building custom trucks and cars – totaling nearly 22 years.

He said he started welding when he was nine years old because his grandpa couldn’t see the parts he wanted welded.

“He brought me over, took some test pieces and showed me how to weld,” he said. “From then on, it’s been constant learning with welding and fabrication.”

Paffel said his passion for custom jobs also started at a young age.

When he bought his first car for $500, Paffel said he “basically rebuilt it from the ground up.”

“I tore it all apart because it had been smoked in,” he said. “I took the seats out and washed them to get the smell out. I welded up floorboards and made patch panels for fenders. My $500 car looked way better than any of my friends.”

Paffel said he thinks his tenacity to do his best comes from not having a lot growing up and wanting to have nice things.

He said he thinks this also makes him able to relate to others better.

“Sometimes, they are bringing in something that most people would question even fixing,” he said. “Just because the four-wheeler is worth $2,000 to you doesn’t mean anything. It’s the intrinsic value to the person bringing it in – they put all their blood, sweat and tears into making all those payments for it. I can relate to that.”

What does the new space give him?

Compared to the space he used to tinker on things – which was a two-car garage and a bunch of storage units he’d move things in and out of – Paffel said the new space offers much more efficiency all around.

“It was like playing Tetris with jobs before while waiting for parts,” he said. “Where now I can just line the shop. I can have six projects going at once no problem.”

The location, Paffel said, is also a huge benefit – right on Highway 10 in Mondovi, which garners a lot of traffic passing by the building daily.

Looking to the future

As he reflects on the last year of growth and the move into the new building, Paffel said he has his sights set on the future of Never Enough Performance.

He said as business continues to grow, he hopes to be able to add an employee who wants to excel at the work they do just as much as he does with his.