Justin: Hey.
What's up, guys?
Justin with americanmuscle.com, and welcome to this installment of our Customer Build
series, the series of videos where we catch up with different customers from all over
the country, chat about their Mustangs and their modifications, maybe what they like,
maybe what they don't like, and ultimately give you guys some ideas for your ride at
home.
Today, I'm really stoked to be talking to Nick from California.
Now, I actually know Nick's S550 GT through Instagram.
He's done some really killer modifications, including one in particular that really separated
his car from some of the others out there, and you'll see what I'm talking about in a
second.
Now, if you guys want to see more of Nick's car, including a complete list of some of
his modifications, feel free to check out his Build page, of course, back at americanmuscle.com.
Or if you're catching this on YouTube, just go ahead and click on that link below in the
description and you can check that out.
For now, let's see what's up with Nick.
What's going on, Nick?
How you doing, man?
Nick: Yeah, pretty good, man.
Justin: I've got to be honest, man.
I mean, I follow you on Instagram.
The car's super unique.
So, let's just get right into it and start up front.
And I think the thing that really grabbed my attention at first was the addition of
that grille, like the S197 fog light grille into the S550.
I mean, honestly, you're one of the first and one of the only people I've seen ever
accomplish that.
Talk to me a little bit more about, like, your inspiration for that, I guess.
Nick: That was like the first thing that I truly thought was, like, missing from the
new design when the '15s first came out.
I bought a '14 Boss 302 grille, wanting to change it up from the Pony grille that I had,
and I, kind of, started hacking it up and see if I could make it work.
The original grille I had, the fog lights attached to the grille and that created a
lot of weight.
So, when I was taking the bumper off, it was actually like flexing the bumper a lot.
On this version, I actually mounted the fog lights to the Whipple intercooler fans.
Once I had everything mocked up and it was, actually, I was like, "I can make this work."
That's when I went in and had it painted gloss black just so it would match everything.
Justin: Up close, I'm looking at it, I'm like, "It looks legit."
Like, it looks like an aftermarket part.
Like, I would, at first glance, not be able to tell that you literally hacked up a Boss
302 grille and fit it behind your brand-new MP Concepts GT500 bumper.
One more thing about that front end, the headlights are different.
You went with the Raxiom projectors, which I like because it's not like totally radical
or changing up from the basic Mustang recipe, right?
So, what's your experience been like with those?
Nick: I love them.
I do like the old ones, and in fact, I kept the old ones too, the Marimotos, and I always
thought, you know, maybe I'll change them down the line, but I actually like the look
of these ones a lot.
It, kind of, keeps like the Mustang DNA.
Justin: It's nice.
You can change your headlights based on what mood you're in, I guess.
Well, we briefly mentioned the Whipple, so let's go under the hood.
Obviously, you've got a 2.9L Whipple on the car, and your Instagram handle is 757 Coyote,
so obviously that thing's making 757 horsepower, right?
That's, kind of, where that came from?
Nick: You know, it's funny because the K is rated at 825 horsepower, but with our 91 octane
California fuel, I know I'm not making anywhere near that.
Justin: It's awesome, though, man.
I like it.
And you did it in red, which is killer, and then some of the other stuff that's custom
under there too.
You did the MMD, the rad extension covers, which I think really clean up the bay.
Nick: Especially with the Whipple intercooler and all the wiring I did for the fog lights,
actually, you could see, within those sides, all the wiring that was sticking out, so that
was, kind of, like a must that I had to get.
Justin: As far as suspension, we talked briefly before this, but it looks like you had the
Ford Performance, the track handling kit suspension.
That kit, I mean, look, we've been to Ford Performance.
We've seen how they outfit these Mustangs and how they build these kits, and I actually
got to drive with one of their engineers, who scared the crap out of me, with that kit
installed on an S550.
So, I know what it's about, but how are you liking it?
Nick: I like it a lot.
In fact, that was the first modification I did, and I didn't want to do the classic mistake
where I just rammed a bunch of horsepower on a stock suspension, something like that.
So, I figured it would be a good base if I just went out and got the suspension kit installed
on, and I had a great time with it, naturally, for the first couple of years, and then decided
to go boost.
Justin: Well, you did it right.
You know, just listen, there's no wrong way, I guess, to mod, but I always, you know, encourage
guys to start with brakes, start with suspension, make sure the car can handle the power and
then stop.
And then pour it on.
Now, let's talk about wheels and tires.
I did see you had, kind of, an RTR thing going on with the car, originally, with the chin
spoiler prior to the new bumper, but the one thing that is still on the car are the Tech
7s.
Those things look sick, and you've got the big, fat NTO5Rs out back.
Nick: I do, which, before that, I had Cup 2s on.
It's funny, going from that, kind of, like racing track tire to a drag radial.
It was my first drag radial, was NTO5Rs.
And at first, the first couple days, man, I did not like it at all.
It felt wobbly.
I felt like I couldn't take turns nearly as fast, but I started to get used to it now,
so now I know, like, you know, you just have to let your car handle it.
Justin: Would you just blow through the Cup 2s even with...
You know, it's a good tire, but like with the Whipple, it would just not hold it?
Nick: So, first and second, it wouldn't hold it.
I'm still running on the Whipple tune, which I love because they have their own flight
control software where I can pull power in each gear.
So, from like first to second, I had the power [inaudible 00:04:59] out.
And once I did that, the Cup 2s didn't have too much of a problem hooking up.
I wanted to try a drag radial and see how, like, what it would actually feel if I just
like...
It was slam on the accelerator and just form a follow stop and see what it actually, you
know, was able to do.
I wasn't disappointed.
I love the tires.
Justin: Well, let's move into the interior because, honestly, outside of the front end
and, obviously, the Whipple, like the interior is probably my favorite part of the car, man,
like just next level out.
You had the Redline interior, I believe, but then you just like cranked it up even further.
You did the digital dash swap.
Was that hard for you?
Nick: It wasn't too big of an issue at all, but I love that thing.
The digital dash was, kind of, like, I think, a must-have interior if anyone has, like,
a 2013 to 2017.
Justin: For sure, man.
It looks absolutely killer.
I have one in my '19.
I love it.
I'm like, it's one of my favorite parts about that car, as silly as that sounds, and it
totally leveled up your interior, for sure.
Now, what's up with the steering wheel?
Now, because I see you had, like, the airbag in the horn button wrapped.
Is that custom, obviously?
Nick: Yeah, it was a custom job.
I had the GT-350R steering wheel, and then I found this guy on the Instagram and he did,
like, custom leatherwork and upholstery work, and he did an airbag cover for a Charger,
SRT Charger, and it had, like, the same red stitching, and I was like, "Hey, can you make
something like this?"
And it came out pretty well.
Justin: The floor mats, you can kind of see, like it looks like you've got a diamond stitch
pattern or something with the floor mats.
Nick: Yes, I do.
I'm a sucker for, like, the leather and red stitching.
I, kind of, want it everywhere.
Justin: Now, if you guys want to see more of Nick's car, including a complete list of
some of his modifications, feel free to check out his Build page, of course, back at americanmuscle.com.
Or if you're catching this on YouTube, just go ahead and click on that link below in the
description, and you can check that out.
What about future modifications, Nick?
Well, we kind of briefly talked about, you know, maybe a little bit more power or whatever,
but is there anything, like one thing that you really just, kind of, have your mind set
on right now?
Nick: In a couple of months, I'll be shipping the car out to Germany.
So, I'm actually doing some track preparation for the next couple months for this car.
My goal is to take it on a Nürburgring.
I think that would be a lifelong bucket list checkoff for me.
Justin: Absolutely, dude.
That's awesome.
So, are you in the service?
Nick: Yes, I'm in the Air Force currently.
I, kind of, mulled over if I wanted to keep the car or not.
It's, you know, it's getting up there in mileage, even though, to me, it's still a new car.
And I decided to keep it.
I wanted to get it track-ready for the roads out there in the Autobahn.
Justin: Dude, that's awesome.
You're definitely going to have to throw those Cup 2s back on if you're hitting the ring.
Nick: Exactly.
Exactly, yeah.
Justin: That's amazing, man.
Well, good deal.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
I'm sure guys out there...
Listen, I know there's a lot of gnarly cars out in the ring and in Germany in general,
but I'm sure you'll make a nice impression with that thing out there.
Nick: Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
I just hope I can keep it on the road.
Justin: Dude, the car is killer, man.
I mean, obviously, you know, it sticks out to me because of the grille and now with the
front end and everything, but it's got the power to back it up, and the interior is just
like probably the most gnarly S550 interior I've ever seen.
Well, listen, man, be safe over in Germany.
Thanks again for your service for this great country, man.
And yeah, try to keep it straight at Nürburgring, okay?
Nick: Yeah, appreciate it, man.
It's going to be a lot of fun, that's for sure.
Justin: All right, guys, well, there you go.
That was Nick and his awesome 2015 GT out from California.
Again, I've been a big fan of Nick's car, long before this interview, just based on
that grille alone, and it's really cool to get the back story behind it and how he actually
built it.
Guys, again, we hope you enjoyed this episode.
I know I did.
Hey, if you want to see more of his mods, including a breakdown of some of the stuff
on his ride, feel free, again, to check out his Build page back on the site.
Or again, just click on that link below.
In the meantime, I'm Justin.
I'm out of here.
Thanks for watching.
And for all things Mustang, keep it right here at americanmuscle.com.