Words: NZV8 | Photos: Rod Dunn
Hot rodding looks a bit different nowadays, and has somewhat become lost on younger generations who are far more interested in Japanese performance cars like the Nissan GT-R, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi Evolution, you name it. And can you blame them? These cars are everywhere in movies and video games, where you rarely see a hotted-up, stripped-back ’32 Deuce or Tri-five anymore. Christchurch panel beater and fabricator Edwin Abbott — Eddie — was one of these fellas, even owning a couple of the aforementioned Jappas before he got a taste for the good ol’ days.
It all started when he and his mate Trevor King rocked up to a local burger joint one night about a decade ago. Surrounded by hot rods for the first time, something clicked. “I became interested in hot rods,” he says, “and the Tudor stood out the most to me. I thought I would like to do one of those one day.” So, when the opportunity came to buy one, he took it without hesitation.
Eddie had been keeping an eye out for a Tudor when he learnt that Justin Orpwood had a 1931 example for sale — and he just so happened to live just around the corner. It’s understood that the car had been in New Zealand since new and had been restored at some point in the ’90s, judging by the paint and the repairs. With a deal done, it arrived with a current registration and a warrant of fitness — a solid set of bones offering the perfect canvas for Eddie’s own personalised build.
Before anything else, the Model A needed a chassis worthy of what Eddie had planned. The original Model A Ford rails were retained but substantially reworked — kicked up at front and rear with custom K-members and boxing plates. Steve Boyes at Selwyn Engineering was the first name on the call list, helping Eddie get started on the chassis and sub-floor work that would underpin everything else. From there, the build took on its characteristic shape: a combination of Eddie doing the work himself, calling in favours, and leaning on a tight circle of trusted people. Mike and Dave at Gas Alley Garage offered the use of their shop over a Christmas break, so Eddie could get the tunnel and floors welded in.
The front suspension runs a SoCal four-inch drop axle on custom hairpins from Flatout Engineering, with SoCal shocks and a transverse leaf spring. Out back, a triangulated four-link with QA1 double-adjustable coilovers on 450lb (204kg) springs handles the heavy work. The braking is all Wilwood — a six-piston calliper setup with drilled and slotted rotors at the front, four-piston callipers and matching rotors at the rear — fed through a Wilwood reverse-swing pedal box.
The engine story is the one Eddie tells with the most relish, because it started as a mistake and finished as a result he’s plainly delighted with. He had an LS3 pulled from a Holden Clubsport, which he intended to fit with a Harrop Hurricane manifold — the latter of which he wanted so badly that he copped the first one that came up without checking what type of LS it was for. The manifold he ended up with was actually for an LS7, which, as you GM tragics will know, has different port shapes and bolt hole locations compared to the LS3 version. The workaround was finding a set of small-bore LS7 cylinder heads. That search led Eddie to Mast Motorsports and their Black Label 265cc CNC-ported heads — among the best aftermarket LS cylinder heads available. Paired with a custom-ground Kennelly cam, a Deatschwerks injector set, a Turbosmart fuel pressure regulator, and a Walbro fuel pump from a Hellcat sitting in a custom tank, the combination came together at the hands of Simon Urquhart and Dylan Field at Surfab. As for the exhaust, a custom set of headers with two-inch primaries flows into a three-inch stainless system with an X-pipe and a pair of AdrenalinR mufflers. Tying everything together is a Link Extreme ECU.
Connecting drive to the rear wheels is a Tremec T56 six-speed with a lightened flywheel and standard-style clutch, a custom driveshaft built by Frank at Circle Track, and a Strange nine-inch fitted with 31-spline Strange axles and a TrueTrac differential running a 4.87:1 final drive ratio — chosen, Eddie notes, because the rear tyres are 31 inches tall.
Come time to tune, Brian from NDT Developments managed to squeeze 524hp out of the LS at the hubs at 6,500rpm and 632Nm of torque at 4,500rpm, on 95 octane. For a car weighing what a ’31 Tudor weighs, that is a respectable figure. A custom radiator with a PWR core and a Maradyne fan have been fitted to keep engine cooling temps in check.
In true hot rodding style, the exterior was a labour of love — Eddie and a couple of mates spent an entire day painting it in Noroo satin black to make it weather-tight for winter. “Don’t look too close,” he tells us, and thanks Gerard Kime at Shepherd & Kime for providing the use of his panel shop for the occasion. The wheels are American Racing Salt Flats, measuring 18×7 at the front wrapped in 215/55R18 rubber, and 20×9.5 at the rear with 275/55R20s.
Inside, Eddie did much of the work himself. The dashboard is from a ’40 Ford, converted to right-hand drive, while the door cards and interior panels are all bead-rolled and fabricated by himself. Cobra seats sourced from the United Kingdom sit behind a steering wheel from American Auto Christchurch, with a short shifter running through the console. A Dakota Digital dash and clock keep the driver informed, a Vintage Air compact heater keeps occupants comfortable, and a custom roll bar and seatbelt anchorage — again by Surfab — keeps them safe.
Old rods like this aren’t necessarily lauded for their fantastic handling characteristics, often requiring extensive modification to match modern standards, but Eddie tells us that it actually drives and tracks very well, considering the nearly 100-year-old suspension design. Reaching the speed limit isn’t an issue either, but we have an inkling that sticking to it is. With that, Eddie gets out in the car as much as he can, whether it’s for a weekend cruise or a commute to work in the summer. He’s also had it on the drag strip, where it ran an 11.3-second quarter-mile. Not bad for an old timer.
It seems the hot rod bug has Eddie well and truly in its grasp, as this is the longest he’s ever owned any vehicle — eight years. With the build complete, there isn’t a thing he’d change about it either. His wife, his child, his good mate Dave Richards, and his little brother all deserve credit for their patience and their help across five years of spare-time building. Robbie Payn knows why he’s on the list, too, Eddie says.
OWNER Q&A
DRIVER: Edwin Abbott (Eddie)
AGE: 46
OCCUPATION: Panel Beater/Fabricator
PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: 1965 Pontiac Laurentian, Nissan GT-Rs, Mitsubishi Evos, Toyota Supra RZ, Subaru WRXs, and others
DREAM CAR: The next one
WHY THIS CAR? I really like the body styling of the Tudor, so I thought I’d try my hand at one doin’ it my way
BUILD TIME: Approximately five years, all in spare time
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Eight years
THIS CAR’S HISTORY: Believed to have been in New Zealand since new; restored in the ’90s before Eddie’s ownership
EDDIE THANKS: Steve Boyes at Selwyn Engineering, Mike and Dave at Gas Alley Garage, Simon Urquhart and Dylan Field at Surfab, Brian at NDT Developments, Gerard Kime at Shepherd & Kime, Lloyd at Magoo’s Street Rods, Dylan at Kruzin Kustoms, Eddie at American Auto Parts in Christchurch, Frank at Circle Track, Justin Orpwood, Dave Richards, Robbie Payn, his little brother, and his wife and child for their patience
SPEC LIST
VEHICLE: 1931 Ford Model A Tudor
ENGINE: LS3 6.2-litre, Mast Motorsports Black Label LS7 265cc CNC-ported cylinder heads, Kennelly Cams custom camshaft, Harrop Hurricane intake manifold (LS7 spec), Deatschwerks fuel injectors, Turbosmart fuel pressure regulator, Walbro in-tank fuel pump, custom fabricated tank, standard-style coils and leads, Link Extreme ECU, custom stainless exhaust headers with two-inch primaries, three-inch stainless system, X-pipe and AdrenalinR mufflers, custom radiator with PWR core, Maradyne fan
DRIVELINE: Tremec T56 six-speed manual gearbox, lightened flywheel, standard-style clutch, Circle Track custom driveshaft, Strange nine-inch differential with TrueTrac and 4.87:1 ratio, 31-spline Strange axles
SUSPENSION: (F) SoCal four-inch drop axle on custom hairpin links (Flatout Engineering), SoCal shocks, transverse leaf spring; (R) triangulated four-link, QA1 double-adjustable coilovers, QA1 450lb (204kg) springs
BRAKES: Wilwood reverse-swing pedal box; (F) Wilwood six-piston callipers, drilled and slotted rotors; (R) Wilwood four-piston callipers, drilled and slotted rotors
WHEELS/TYRES: (F) 18×7-inch American Racing Salt Flats with 215/55R18 tyres; (R) 20×9.5-inch American Racing Salt Flats with 275/55R20 tyres
EXTERIOR: Noroo satin black paint, original Model A Ford chassis rails modified with kick-up front and rear, custom K-members and boxing plates
INTERIOR: Cobra seats, RHD-converted ’40 Ford dashboard, bead-rolled door cards and interior panels, Dakota Digital instruments, Vintage Air compact heater, steering wheel (American Auto Christchurch), short shifter, Surfab custom roll bar and seatbelt anchorage
PERFORMANCE: 524hp at hubs, 632Nm on 95 octane; 11.3-second quarter-mile
