ShowTruckscene.com - Jason Mulligan "Hot Red"

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Jason Mulligan "HOT RED"
Febuary 8th, 2007
Talk about this Feature on the FORUMS!
Being given the opportunity to write about my own truck also gives me the chance to tell a story, not only about my truck, but why I did what was done to it as well as the history behind it. Rather than spit out parts and shops that worked on the truck (you can check the tech section for that info); I thought I’d give you a little insight into why I built the truck, and what inspirations I had.

Growing up, my dad was always into cars, his style was more the older ‘50s and ‘60s luxury cars rather than hot rods. I remember the first model car we built was a 1930’s Bugatti from a model he had sitting around; the pinnacle of luxury cars. I started doing more models; my friends and I were some of the first people in the area to do model car hoppers, before any kits came out. It was at that time (7th grade) that a cousin of mine got a new 1996 Silverado, within a year he had bodydropped it on 17s, with one tiny compressor and a small tank in the bed. I was hooked, and I knew that I wanted that body style of truck.

Fast forward about 5 years, I had my truck. It was a stock 1997 Chevy Silverado. While I knew I wanted to do to the truck, I did not know the extent of it at the time. Having an old stock of Truckin’ magazines, I started off mild, lowered on 17s, bumper; roll pan, shaved tailgate, etc… After mobbing that for less than a year, I took the truck to GO-EZ Customs for a bag job that was clean and reliable. Digital gauges, KP 6-link and the engine driven compressor were chosen to compliment the bag job from Art, Jeremy and Scott at GO-EZ. I went all out on the bag system as I knew I did not want problems or annoyances with it.

The snowball effect with finishing the truck occurred when I joined Local Finesse, which Jeremy at GO-EZ was the vice president at the time. I went for the cleanest body, with everything being shaved including the locks on the bed cover. Old school kustom style flames were added to complete a retro/classic look that began in the interior. The seats are from a 1966 Chevy Corvair; I pulled them from the car at a Pick-a-Part on Thanksgiving morning. I wanted old school lowback seats, the chrome trim was an extra bonus. Patterns for the seats and headliner where influenced by looking through old magazines and restored Impalas from the 1960s. The Chevy V/V8 logo (which also was my first tattoo) was used throughout the truck; the speaker pods on the one off door panels mimic the logo. As well as the V in the headliner, seats and the actual emblem itself molded into subwoofer box. Even the rims were influenced by old 1960’s spindle mounted gassers.

My goal was to blend the influences and styles I grew up with into one package; luxury, hot rod, kustoms and mini trucks.

Future plans include finishing the engine and dash and suiciding the hood to show off the flame and striping work.

Tech Sheet

1997 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Jason Mulligan
Engine

5.7L 350 Vortec, K&N FIPKII Air Intake Kit, MSD Ignition Wires, Spectre Performance billet valve covers, wire looms, overflow tank, hose sleeves and clamps and accessories. Flowmaster 3" exhaust w/ custom bent Y-Pipe, AirLift Air Commander Engine Driven Compressor. 2 Optima Yellow Tops.
Suspension
Shop: GO-EZ Customs and owner.
KP Components 6-link with Firestone 2600 air bags, 8" bridged notch, 2 5-gallon air tanks. AirLift Air Commander Engine Driver Compressor, 1/2" SMC Valves w/dump mufflers, DJM 2" drop spindles, 185 PSI Pressure Switch, Dakota Digital ARC-1004 digital gauge/switches mounted in dash w/remote key fobs. Baer DecelaRotors with brushed aluminum powder coated and pinstriped caliper covers with ceramic brake pads.
Wheels/Tires
20x8.5”/22x10” Intro Magnum XLR wheels. Polished with hand brushed spokes. Toyo Proxes 4 255/35/20 and 285/30/22 tires. Spear tipped lug nuts.
Body
Shop: Deranged Rides, Line-X, South County Auto Body, BachWerks and owner.
Shaved door handles, gas door (relocated inside bed), antenna, rain gutters, 3rd brake light, tail lights, roll pan, stake pockets, fender lips and tailgate handle. Street Scene EQ smooth grill shell, smooth wiper cowl and custom one-piece Cal-Vu mirrors. Carriage Works Cut Out billet grill inserts. GM steel smooth bumper. Smoothed and painted corner lights. APC clear parking lenses. Cando Specialties 59” red LED light bar flush mounted between roll pan and tailgate. Cando Specialties tail light fillers. Sir Michael’s roll pan and tailgate handle relocator. GO-EZ Customs tubs and notch cover. Color matched Line-X bedliner by Tom McWeeney of Kustoms Inc. Gaylord’s Traditional Bed Lid with shaved locks and 3D Line-X flames by Tom McWeeney with stainless steel gas shocks.
Paint
Shop: Kustoms Inc., Venable Koncepts and Paint by Blake.
House of Kolor Blue Blood Red and Orion Silver. Paint and Pinstriping by Tom McWeeney of Kustoms Inc. Flames and airbrushing by Blake Weaver of Future Tattoo/Paint by Blake.
Stereo
Shop: Precision Sound
Swiss Audio SAK650 & 525 6.5” & 5.25” Component speakers, SAX682 6x8” Coaxial speakers, 4-SWL1281 12” Subwoofers, 2-SMX1000 Mono amplifiers, 1-SMX4400 4-Channel amplifier, SEQ16 16-band Equilizer, and 52-Farad capacitor. Alpine 9831 MP3/CD head unit. 2-Optima Yellow Top Batteries. Viper 891 2-way alarm with DEI power window module.
Interior
Shop: Precision Sound, Stitchcraft, Deranged Rides, and GO EZ Customs and owner.
Arm rests, seatbelt holders, handles, coat hangers and pockets shaved from rear panels with molded speaker pods; subwoofer/amp enclosure fiberglassed and molded to fit with flush mounted chrome Chevy V-emblem and trim rings. One off door panels with V8 logo style speaker pods with one off billet Chevy V-emblems on speakers by RPM Graphics, panel inserts and Big Al Carponent’s billet marque armrest/opener/door pull with rewired window switches by Precision Sound. 1965 Chevy Impala SS center console. Re-chromed and restored junkyard 1966 Chevy Corvair seats, custom seat tracks by GO-EZ Customs. Custom headliner with 1955 Chevy Bel Air dome light, all covered in Enduratex Vintage Gray suede, Cherry Red, Ebony Black and brushed aluminum vinyl and black carpet by Stitchcraft. Smoothed and painted dash with Mazda Miata stainless steel A/C vent rings by Deranged Rides, owner and Kustoms Inc. Nu Image Stainless Steel gauges and clear needles. Billet Specialties smooth door sills, shifter and rearview mirror.
Awards
2nd Place Full Size Stock - September II Remember
1st Place Under Construction - California Truck Jam
1st Place Under Construction - SCMTC Cruise Night
3rd Place Full Size Mild - Line-X-Mas Party
Special Thanks
My parents for their support and my dad for spurring my car interest and my cousin Chris Malek for introducing me to the custom truck world. Art and the crew at GO EZ Customs, Rene and crew at Precision Sound, Sergio of Deranged Rides, Stitchcraft, Bryan at Intro Wheels, Icon Media, Street Scene EQ, Coast Airbrush, Tom McWeeney at Kustoms Inc., Blake Weaver, Marcel at Line-X/Venable Koncepts, Spectre Performance, Rick and everyone at Swiss Audio, South County Auto Body, Steve at Cando Specialties Chachi and everyone else at Showtruckscene.com, and of course Local Finesse.

Article by Jason Mulligan
Photos: Jason Mulligan
Model: Alyssa

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