themotorhood.com^73
SURTZ MODEL A RPU
ENGINE: 239ci Ford 8BA flathead, Offenhauser
alloy heads, Offenhauser alloy intake manifold,
triple Stromberg 97 carburettors, vintage
alloy scoops, MSD distributor, MSD ignition
coil, stainless-steel headers, custom lake-
style exhaust, custom baffles, bottom-mount
alternator, custom front-mounted alloy header
tank, rear-mounted electric water pump, rear-
mounted radiators, electric fans
DRIVELINE: Ford 3+1 Toploader four-speed
manual, overdriven top gear, early Ford banjo
diff, 4.1:1 diff ratio, Wilwood reverse swing-
mount pedal box
SUSPENSION: Underslung front axle, drilled
Model A front axle, transverse front leaf spring,
custom front spring mount, stock Model A
stubs, Model A rear buggy spring
BRAKES: Early Ford drum brakes
WHEELS/TYRES: 16-inch wire wheels, 6.00-
16 Commander bias-ply front tyres, 7.00-16
Firestone Deluxe Champion bias-ply rear tyres
EXTERIOR: Custom aluminium tub, custom
aluminium transmission tunnel, custom
aluminium doors, custom aluminium
raked windscreen surround, Morris Minor
glass, custom aluminium tray, rimu deck,
Harley-Davidson tail lights
CHASSIS: Model A chassis, underslung front
axle, Z’d rear end
INTERIOR: Custom aluminium bucket seats,
Limeworks steering wheel, Austin Mini gauges,
So-Cal shifter
PERFORMANCE: Untested
“It’s a Model A axle, no drop in it, Model A stubs — I
just used as much old shit as I could,” Neil explains.
That “old shit” includes the early Ford drum brakes,
as well as the running 8BA flathead V8 he had lying
around, Toploader four-speed gearbox, and early
Ford banjo diff with 4.11 gears— simple, cost-
effective, and perfectly fitting the theme of the car.
The same goes for the 16-inch wire wheels, with
centres scored from the LA Roadster Show several
years before, along with the vintage carb scoops —
and those Stromberg 97s and Offenhauser go-fast
bits are just plain cool.
“I made the headers — pretty rough, those ones,
but they suit the style of the car. I tried to make
as much stuff as I could out of aluminium and
stainless so it wouldn’t go rusty in the future,” Neil
explains.
This is made explicitly clear inside the cabin. Thevisual overdose of raw aluminium, rivets, rolled
beads, and dimple-died holes gives a mechanical
complexity to what is actually a very spartan
environment. Neil’s custom touches even extend
to the speedo — originally from an Austin Mini, it
now bears a custom ‘Surtz Aviation’ motif.
However, for all the intuitive craftsmanship that’s
visible, the coolest interior feature might just be
those bomber-style bucket seats — seats that,
like everything else in this car, Neil painstakingly
constructed by hand.
Although Neil has now had the RPU for several
years, it still pulls crowds of admiring onlookers
wherever he takes it.
While the engineering genius that Neil’s put into
this Model A is obvious, the same can’t be said for
his following hot rod build, which has remarkable
subtlety as its defining characteristic.