March 2010 Car Of The Month: Kris H

psfracer

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March Car Of The Month: Kris Horton

This month we have a professionally built car from a relatively new member here to the site. This car is beautiful from top to bottom, and is impossible to ignore. Proof positive of why the S197 Mustang is so popular, as there are thousands of ways to mod the car for it to become one of a kind. Here in his own words is the March Car Of The Month:

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First of all, I want to say thank you for making my Mustang Car of the Month! It’s a real honor, especially with all of the exceptional cars on this site. I’m still a fairly new member here and thought I would give you a bit of background on myself and my car.

I’m an artist and car customizer from Southern California. I help people visualize their projects before they ever turn a wrench by doing digital renderings of what their car can look like. I also build and design project cars for the SEMA show and other large car shows. I bought my Mustang in February of 2005. It was my first brand new car, which was extremely exciting as I had only just turned 21. Naturally, it didn’t take long for the modding to start. I had built a ’71 Chevelle with my dad for the 2004 SEMA show and decided that I’d like to take the Mustang in ’05. The car was finished for the first time in October of 2005, went to SEMA, and spent the next couple of years getting additional mods here and there. In 2009 I took the Mustang to an annual car show in my home town. Due to some carelessness by the folks that put the show on, my car was boxed in and right in the line of fire during their burnout contest. My Mustang was hit with molten rubber and gravel which completely decimated my paint. It was infuriating and heartbreaking, but I tried not to let it get to me. I took it as a sign that it was time to update the car. And by update, I mean “complete overhaul.” I guess things snowballed a bit…

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I took the Mustang to Airhead Kustoms in Corona, CA as I had heard nothing but good things about them and was looking for a paint and body shop that was not only talented, but wouldn’t give me the run around like so many other shops out there. It started with a complete base color change from Mineral Grey to House of Kolors Arctic White Pearl. I thought long and hard about doing this as not only Mineral Grey a somewhat rare color, but I truly loved it. It was just time for a change and I had already done all I could with the original color. I topped off the pearl white with HoK Black Pearl and Atomic Orange. Jason and Art at Airhead did all of the custom airbrush work in the stripes and the scheme was finished off with hand pinstriping by Wild Bill. The paint took about 2 full days to wrap up and it came out absolutely beautiful. Body mods include a Street Scene Gen 2 rear valance with center exhaust, Street Scene side skirts, and a GT500 front end conversion topped with a Cervini’s 2.5” cowl hood. We also finished the tail lights in satin-smoke to mimic the satin tail panel. Another finishing touch to the exterior was a pair of custom badges made by Steve Smart at Billet Badges featuring my KH logo.

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With the new color scheme, I decided to also swap out the tan interior. It was a job and a half swapping from tan to black, but I was able to find and buy all of the parts I needed over the course of about a month. James Mendoza joined the crew at Airhead Kustoms late in the summer and ended up doing all of my custom interior work such as my custom Corbeau A4’s, matching back seat, custom suede-wrapped dash and pillars, custom flamed headliner. He also finished the door panel inserts in matching leather. I customized in the dash with GT500 satin a/c vents and gauge bezels and added a TCI Street Fighter ratchet shifter. We also installed QuietRide sound deadening to help keep the interior from being too noisy.

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The suspension is upgraded with Eibach Sportline springs, Eibach Sway Bars, Tokico D-Spec adjustable shocks, and a BMR adjustable panhard bar. Coilovers are planned for the future, along with other suspension goodies. AP Racing 6-piston front and 4-piston rear brakes make the car stop on a dime. 20” Petrol Traviata 3-piece wheels wrapped in Toyo TR1 rubber keep the car planted to the ground.

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To paint the engine bay, we pulled the motor and all of the wiring. While the motor was out, I had my friend Dan Capps tear down and rebuild it with ModMax H-Beam rods and Keith Black forged pistons. All of the machine work was done by J&J Machine Shop in Ridgecrest, CA. The motor was topped off with an Edelbrock E-Force blower with the Edelbrock race intake, a 2.75” upper pulley, and a 10% overdrive Innovators West balancer. I’m still breaking the motor in, but hope to hit the dyno soon. We’d like to see numbers in the mid- to high-500rwhp range. A Fluidyne radiator was added for improved cooling and many visual upgrades from Scott Drake were added as well. Bangastang provided a beautiful one-piece radiator cover that I hope to install shortly as well, along with a few more dress-up items to brighten up the engine bay.

I know I’m forgetting tons of stuff, but here is my mod list to cover anything I’ve forgotten.

MOD LIST:

Design
Kris Horton - Cars by Kris
www.carsbykris.com

Paint and Body
Jason Russell and Art Gomez – Airhead Kustoms, Corona, CA
www.airheadkustoms.com

Interior
James Mendoza – Airhead Kustoms

Mechanical
Daniel Capps
Donnie Class
Jay DeGrado

Exterior
Shelby GT500 Nose Conversion
2010 Mustang Side Mirrors
Street Scene Equipment Body Kit
Cervini’s Auto Designs 3” Cowl Hood
Custom Paint by Airhead Kustoms
Hand Pinstriping by Wild Bill
Satin-Smoked Tail Lights
Custom Emblems by Billet Badges
Petrol Traviata Wheels
Toyo TR1 Tires
Scott Drake Billet Gas Door
Scott Drake Sequential Taillights

Interior
Custom Corbeau Racing Seats
Custom Rear Seat and Package Tray
Suede Headliner and Dashboard
Corbeau 5-Point Restraints
TCI Street Fighter Ratchet Shifter
Auto Meter Gauges
Scott Drake Billet Pedals
Interior LED Conversion
QuietRIDE Sound Deadening and Insulation

Performance
4.6L Modular V8 built by Daniel Capps
Edelbrock E-Force Supercharger
Custom Center-Exit Exhaust
Fluidyne Racing Radiator
BBK High Flow X-Pipe
TCI Street Fighter 3000 Stall Converter

Engine Bay
Scott Drake Billet Fuid Fill Caps
Scott Drake Billet Battery Tie-Down
Scott Drake Fuse Box Cover
Scott Drake Underhood Hardware Kit
BangaStang Custom Radiator Cover (not pictured)

Suspension and Braking
Eibach Sportline Lowering Spings
Eibach Anti-Roll Sway Bar Kit
BMR Adjustable Panhard Bar
Tokico D-Spec Adjustable Shocks
Chicane Strut Tower Brace (not pictured)
AP Racing Big Brake Kit

Electronics
Gryphon Audio DVD Head Unit
JL Audio Subwoofers
Ample Audio Amplifiers


I’d also like to say a big thanks to my parents, my girlfriend Jade, and our good friend Jay DeGrado for all their help and support through everything. And again, a big thanks to this site for making me its car of the month!
-KH


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martinr69

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Congrats to you... And I have to agree with Sogwap55 on the wallpaper thing lol
 

stkjock

---- Madmin ----
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congrats! beautiful car and extremely unique!
 

Steedman07

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Great choice for COTM..Very nice ride man..Great stance and nice mix of exterior mods. badass..
 

ZmanM3

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Congrats! COM is well deserved, your car is pretty awesome.
 

mikeysgt

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very nice car! first time i saw this car since i haven't been on the forums much lately but damn! all around great looking car
 

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