Turning AMT's Disparaged Modern-Tool Ala Kart Into Something Acceptable UPDATED: 4/10/16

[crazyrichard]

nice work !

[tim boyd]

Excellent, well thought out and methodical approach to your chassis modifications....yielding great proportions and a very clean result.  Count me as continuing to be impressed.  Nice choice on the Caddy engine, too!   TIM  

[Dennis Lacy]

UPDATE

Got some good bench time in today and made some solid progress. First order of business was to choose and mount a rear axle. I thought about reworking the '29 Roadster 9" axle to have a vintage cross spring but the more I thought about it the better I thought it would be to have a vintage "banjo" axle. After offering up multiple versions I found that the axle with lowered spring from Revell's most recent release of their '37 Pickup (which comes with both stock and lowered rear suspension) would work really nice. The rear ride height needed to come down a good amount too. I started by using a round file and filing the half-round rear axle notches 1/8" deeper then smoothed out the transitions. This completely eliminated the goofy axle mounting stands. I also installed a new rear cross member made from 1/8" round tube. To install it I drilled .060" holes in the frame rails then inserted a .060" plastic rod through both frame rails and through the tube. Like the front tube cross member, doing it this way positively locates the tube and fully supports it as opposed to simply gluing it to the inside of the frame rails. I then drilled the center of the tube and drilled the center of the spring (which was thinned down some) and inserted a mounting/alignment pin.

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The flanges on the ends of the axle are 1/4" diameter. I decreased them down to 3/16" then filed a flat on the bottom to replicate the D-shaped flanges on the '29 Roadster kit 9" rear axle so that the brake plates from the '29 would fit. I also cut off the wheel mounting pins, drilled the ends of the axles and inserted .060" rod for the wheels to mount on.

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Here's a few pics of the rear axle fitted. I still need to fit the shock absorbers, trailing arms and cut off the remains of the torque tube as it will be replaced with an open driveshaft.

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Here's a comparison of how my modified frame looks (so far) Vs. an unmodified '29 Roadster kit frame.

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I also did a little more work on the engine, which is the early Cadillac from Revell's '49 Custom Merc. I filled the carburetor mounting holes in the intake then drilled new .040" holes which I inserted rod into of the same size. The carburetors with cool shorty, angle cut scoops are from the most recent version of Revell's '50 Ford Pickup. I center drilled their bases with matching .040" holes to fit over the pins on the intake. Later I will drill out the scoops to make them more realistic.

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Here's the rolling chassis incorporating all of today's work. I decided to change the wheels to the Cadillac sombrero pieces from Revell's '49 Custom Merc. I did this for a couple of reasons. 1) I felt like with all of the custom stylized bodywork that simple Ford steel wheels with hubcaps were out of place. Caddy sombrero caps are a classic go-to choice for customs and something like this much better suits the rest of the vehicle. 2) I love the Cadillac theme tie-in between the wheels and engine.

The tires are all from The Modelhaus and are # T110 front and # T180 rear. The outer wheel halves fit into them surprisingly well and the inner wheel halves needed only slight tweaking to fit.

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[Dennis Lacy]

UPDATE - Continued

Here are some full mock ups with all of today's work. I cut a notch in the nose to fit around the axle/spring and installed mounting pins to positively mount the nose to the front of the frame. I'm also considering using this neat V-shaped windshield from AMT's '32 Phantom Vicky kit. The cowl will need to be reshaped but I think that this windshield goes better with all of the custom styling much better than the Ala Kart's stock Model A windshield does.

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I thought I should also include a picture showing how absolutely perfectly the frame from the new '29 Roadster kit fits up into the bed.

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[Chuck Most]

I have to say, I'm digging the fenderless look and the stance. Makes me wish I hadn't cannibalized the two new-tool Karts I had "in stock"...

[Phirewriter]

Looking good, can't wait to see the completed version. BTW, what's going on with the kool little comp T in the background of some of the pics?

[Dennis Lacy]

Looking good, can't wait to see the completed version. BTW, what's going on with the kool little comp T in the background of some of the pics?

Thanks!

You can check out the T Roadster here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/106763-27-t-roadster-retro-drag-updated-11115/?page=1

[squirrel886]

Wow, is an understatement!  

Thanks for the inprogress pics!  I'm gonna have to dig out that '29 RPU I have shelved and rethink the front end now.  I like your execution and then I can shorten the wheelbase a tad. 

[mod3l Lover]

   That looks just right!  It's like the way George Barris

would do it today I think.

  The Caddy motor is a perfect match for what you have 

going on there for sure.

  It makes me glad that I never built that Kart kit in my

piles yet.

     David S.

[1930fordpickup]

Dennis I really like what I see. I have always thought that the nose would look better the way you have it. But it has been bouncing around in my head for a couple of years just did not have the  guts to try it. I was thinking of going to single head light or remove the pods completely.

Edited December 7, 2015 by 1930fordpickup

[tim boyd]

Dennis....excellent, excellent progress.  Really love to follow your builds and your building style/how you explain it.  

And the choice of the Sombreros to go with the Caddy engine is inspired!  

One idea for you to consider - Replicas and Miniatures offers a Duval/speedboat-style windshield frame specifically designed to fit the '29 A Cowl.   It replicates a rare and valuable 1/1 scale component design with a name that I cannot recall at the moment but you would recognize it if you saw it.  It would be a much easier adaptation to the AlaKart than the DuVal frame from the AMT/Ertl Phantom Vicky Phaeton, possibly requiring no tweaking at all.  It was probably based on a Rik Hoving master, too.  As far as I know, it's still in Norm's catalog.  

Here's the only photo I could find of one of my projects with the windshield....

 

Cheers...TIM

[DrKerry]

Looking awesome!!!!

[Mr. Metallic]

 I cannot recall at the moment but you would recognize it if you saw it.   It was probably based on a Rik Hoving master, too.  As far as I know, it's still in Norm's catalog.  

 

 

Cheers...TIM

Here it is Tim...

 

Dennis, I'm really digging the stance on this one. As always, your frame mods are great.

[tim boyd]

Here it is Tim...

 

Dennis, I'm really digging the stance on this one. As always, your frame mods are great.

Craig....bingo....that's the one!   Thanks...TIM..

[wayne swayze]

This build knocks me out! I love all the curves found from front to back. Stance is perfect as is the wheel/tire choice. Love it!

[Dennis Lacy]

Thanks for all of the positive comments, guys! The Ala Kart is a bit of an odd ball so it's neat to see so many people showing interest. 

 One idea for you to consider - Replicas and Miniatures offers a Duval/speedboat-style windshield frame specifically designed to fit the '29 A Cowl.   It replicates a rare and valuable 1/1 scale component design with a name that I cannot recall at the moment but you would recognize it if you saw it.  It would be a much easier adaptation to the AlaKart than the DuVal frame from the AMT/Ertl Phantom Vicky Phaeton, possibly requiring no tweaking at all.  It was probably based on a Rik Hoving master, too.  As far as I know, it's still in Norm's catalog.  

Cheers...TIM

Thanks for the idea, Tim. That's a truly nice piece and I've seen it put to use quite a few times. In this case I'm going to stick with what I have because I can have the cowl reworked a lot faster than I can get one from Norm. 

 

[bisc63]

Loving this build, and your writeup is first-rate! Looking forward to the final product...

[tim boyd]

Dennis...I hear you, man.  Nothing like having the piece in your hand, right now..  Even if it takes a little more work it keeps the project momentum  moving forward.....Cheers...TIM  

Edited December 8, 2015 by tim boyd

[talon63]

Great build!

[Dennis Lacy]

UPDATE

I had a little bit of time to hang out at my work bench today and I made a little bit of progress on this thing.

I started by modifying a pair of Caddy headers from Monogram's Blue Bandito '29 Roadster Pickup to pin to the heads on the Revell Caddy engine then added angle cut extensions to flow alongside the cowl.

Then I worked a bit on the induction. The molded carburetor scoops got their centers hollowed out for realism, I filed away the mold seams on all 3 carbs and also drilled all 3 for future fuel hose. I also built a basic round fuel supply log from .060” rod and mounted it to the intake manifold just below the middle carb.

I also swapped on the finned valve covers from Revell's Cadillac parts pack engine and drilled the spark plug locations for future wires. Not a “ton” of work but it's some fiddly stuff out of the way. Progress is progress!

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Edited January 4, 2016 by Dennis Lacy

[oldscool]

I'm diggin' that upside down grille shell.

[crazyrichard]

looking great !!!

[wayne swayze]

Lovin' this model !!  

[crazyjim]

Really nice work going on.  Are you going to do anything with the taillights?  The headlights are canted in one direction while the taillights are the opposite angle.

[Dennis Lacy]

Thanks, guys! 

Really nice work going on.  Are you going to do anything with the taillights?  The headlights are canted in one direction while the taillights are the opposite angle.

No, the taillights will stay as they are and use the inserts and bullet lenses from the out of the box. One of the whole points behind using the Ala Kart bodywork is that all the customizing is done for me.