Congrats on getting your Challenger restored by none other than Nick's Garage and it looks just like his!
I really enjoy watching his shows and probably seen some episodes featuring your car.
Tell us about your experience in working with Nick.
No reflection on Nick, but having your car redone in another country makes for some paperwork- on one form I had to state that the Challenger was not a significant part of Canada's cultural heritage and thus OK to export back to the States. Canadian customs also imposes a time limit on how long the car can be in Canada (one year, plus a six-month extension on request), so that was a factor in scheduling.
I went with Nick because not only does he know these cars forwards and backwards and sideways, he's also a perfectionist and listens to his customers. I gave him a list of "wants" and he provided it, making suggestions here and there, but never trying to tell me what I "should" want.
The car I sent Nick was solid, but partially disassembled and included boxes of parts- some of them correct! I had managed to put the front spindles on backwards, but at least it rolled. The 440 was a want-ad purchase from the 1990s and the 727 was a "gift" from a friend who didn't want it. The black interior, however, was complete and original, with 35k miles on the car.
Now the car looks new from end to end. The paint is beautiful. It does differ from Nick's "Kowalski" in a few ways: 1) 727 instead of 4-speed (3.23 SG out back, per my request), 2) driver's outside mirror and 3) flip-top FUEL gas cap that the car came with from the factory. It also had factory A/C and we kept it, adding an aftermarket compressor and other things to replace missing hardware. I don't know if Nick's Chally has A/C.
I asked for slightly reduced compression to run on 93 octane without additives- but it's still a 440 and it does not disappoint. Period-correct power steering feels over-boosted, but that's how they made them back then. The Rim Blow steering wheel works, but you have to give it a good squeeze.
The car is a kick to drive and I will admit, I enjoy just looking at it. I'm very glad I did this (with a little help from Nick and Indy Auto).
TO FEBO.
