Ala Kart – 2nd Gen with 1st Gen Engine

[Phildaupho]

When I started this project, my objective was to build a decent looking model car that was recognizable as the Ala Kart to display with a poster I have of the restored car. My plan was to totally base the model on the most recent AMT kit but install the more accurately scaled engine from the original issue that can be found in the AMT Roadster kit. I learned a few things a long the way that I thought would be interesting to others who might be considering doing the same even though there has been a lot previously written on this forum about the relative merits of the two generations of AMT Ala Kart kits and how to possibly build a better replica.

Without close scrutiny the most glaring deficiency of the second-generation Ala Kart kit is the too small engine. I have replaced that with the Dodge Red Ram Hemi from the AMT ’29 Ford Roadster supplemented with parts from the later AMT Ala Kart. I used two sets of injectors from the newer kit to lengthen them to fit the more accurately scaled engine and replaced the tubes with ones made of aluminum. Bare Metal Foil was used to chrome the valve covers and oil sump. The headers come from the Revell ‘32 Ford 5-Window Coupe with connecting pipes from the AMT Ala kart headers. The front cover has to mounted higher on the larger engine so it sits level. Regarding the chassis I did have to slightly modify the front and rear engine mounts to fit the larger Hemi.

With the engine and rolling chassis completed, I was delighted that with the larger engine mated to the driveshaft and there was just enough clearance between the fan and the radiator. Not only do the fenders mount with the engine installed but the hood also fits over the wider engine, albeit tight. I must say I really like the chassis and the suspension is very advanced for 1957 with air bags. I did the coil springs with wire after smoothing the bags.

It was at this point that I hit a snag – the firewall would not fit. It took a fair amount of work to recess the firewall including modifications to both the firewall and the interior tub. Additional flanges were required for the eventual mounting of the firewall. The question then became – why does the longer engine not fit between the radiator and the firewall when I thought I had made up the difference in the length of the blocks with moving the front engine mount location forward. There are actually two reasons. The bellhousing and transmission on the engine in the newer kit is longer than the original engine and actually better represents that in the real Ala Kart. Secondly the engine compartment in the older kit was longer than the newer kit.

ALTERNATIVE PLAN – I have a number of Ala Kart and ’29 Roadster kits so in the interest of “Model Car Science” I was able to investigate an alternative plan. Mounting the bellhousing and transmission from the newer kit to the old engine allows the firewall to be mounted in its proper position as the engine shifts about 3mm forward.

There is enough length on the forward engine mounts to have the front of the engine further forward but the radiator may need to be mounted inside the nose and the front suspension cross bar may need to trimming to provide clearance for the lower pulley. That being said, in looking at photos of both the original and restored Ala Kart; I cannot see a fan or a generator for that matter. The hood is tight but still fits although there is plenty of meat on the hood sides to thin them down.

Now that I know what I know; it looks like I am going to have to make things right and start over.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Most excellent. I'd intended to do much the same thing after I'd completed the series on compare-and-contrast the two kits I started here some time back.

The real engine was a very tight fit in the car as well, and that's of course the reason Barris used the little Dodge hemi in the first place. No other hemi had a hope in jell of fitting.

Nice work!

 

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Nice work and thanks for doing the comparo. Looking forward to seeing more....-RRR

[Phildaupho]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Most excellent. I'd intended to do much the same thing after I'd completed the series on compare-and-contrast the two kits I started here some time back.

The real engine was a very tight fit in the car as well, and that's of course the reason Barris used the little Dodge hemi in the first place. No other hemi had a hope in jell of fitting.

Nice work!

 

Thanks Bill - I have had your 2 part series bookmarked since you posted them and found them very helpful. I just came from my bench after disassembling my first attempt and gathering parts for the second attempt which will be final no matter how it turns out.

[Phildaupho]

25 minutes ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

Nice work and thanks for doing the comparo. Looking forward to seeing more....-RRR

Thanks Rodney - I probably find the research and problem solving my favourite part of model car building.

[Phildaupho]

I did a little more research into the engine and tried to be more observant this time. The fuel injection set up was essentially always for show. It did not and does not run a fan or a generator and uses a magneto for ignition. After its original car show career it was converted to carburetor induction for street-ability and in that configuration did have a fan and distributor. This being the case, I don't think the forward cross-member will need to be trimmed for the longer engine. Interestingly the carburetor option comes with the 2nd generation AMT kit but is not shown in the directions but does specify to install the fan and distributor with the fuel injection.

For a lot of great photos of the Ala Kart during restoration at Brizio's check out this link

Rods in Progress - JOHN MUMFORD’S ALA KART (roybriziostreetrods.com)

[Phildaupho]

I do not have much of a problem with the over-all look of the 2^nd generation AMT Ala Kart compared to the real car. The only change I am making to the exterior is to open up the hood scoop. The underside of the Ala Kart was upholstered with pelted Naugahyde and was an iconic aspect of the car that was highlighted when it was displayed. This detail was reproduced by AMT but marred by the numerous injection circles so these surfaces were first filled and smoothed. I then simulated the upholstery with Evergreen V-Groove with 1.5mm spacing. In doing so I was able to cover some areas missed by AMT. AMT went to the trouble fully rendering the ribbed texture on the pickup bed side panels and provided a full coverage decal but half is covered by the inner fender structure. I have removed that area which will expose the gold covered area behind the rear wheels.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Nice way to correct those pin marks. Looking forward to more of this. 

 

[bisc63]

Great thread!

[Phildaupho]

On 4/8/2021 at 11:28 AM, Modelbuilder Mark said:

Nice way to correct those pin marks. Looking forward to more of this. 

 

 

12 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Great thread!

Thanks guys. It is proving to be a very interesting project and more involved than I originally anticipated.

[Phildaupho]

Another aspect of the look of the 2^nd generation kit I was not comfortable with is the grill. It sure is helpful having more than one kit for checking out modifications and of course for extra parts when a change goes awry. The grill on the real Ala Kart is very complex and AMT gave it a good try the multi pin clear piece but it just does not look very realistic with the flat perforated chrome piece that the clear pins protrude through. It took awhile to come up with something that better approximates the real thing. I felt very fortunate when I found a piece of photo-etch for a large-scale model with square openings on which the clear pins painted with Tamiya Clear Yellow could be mounted. I opened up the grill housing just leaving a narrow lip for the grill assembly to mount. I did consider cutting the pins in horizontal rows to glue to the photo-etch but after using double faced scotch tape to attach the clear grill so I could cut the photo-etch to shape, I thought I would leave it as is. Once completed I think the black radiator behind will give the grill even more definition.

You can see in the photo that I have also opened up the hood scoop and separated the hood sides

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Very nice updates, that grill would be a challenge to get perfect, but worth it if you can

 

[Phildaupho]

18 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

Very nice updates, that grill would be a challenge to get perfect, but worth it if you can

 

Thanks Mark. I am going to see if I can make horizontal strips of pins work but if not what you see is what you'll get !!

[Phildaupho]

ROLLING CHASSIS TAKE 2 - 

I have essentially built an entire new rolling chassis. This time the 1^st generation engine is mated to the 2^nd generation transmission and bellhousing. Other changes to the engine include venturi stacks from the Revell ’29 Ford roadster kit, the elimination of the generator and fan and a lower mounting of the front cover. On this version I used the headers from the 1^st generation engine. An interesting bit of trivia regarding the engine is that before it was installed in the Ala Kart it was used to power the owner’s race boat. Over the years the valve covers were polished and chromed so many times the Red Ram Dodge scripting has become very faint.

I think AMT generally did a very good job replicating the suspension system. On this Take 2 I did install the rear Panhard bar which is supplied but not shown in the instructions. As with the previous version I built, I did use wire to simulate the coil springs. After mounting the wheels and tires, I decided to see how the rolling chassis fit with the fenders and discovered that the track both front and rear was too wide. I removed the shoulders from the wheel retainers and axles to bring the wheels and tires within the fenders.

[bisc63]

Almost a shame to waste that chassis on the Ala Cart! It's a neat custom, but a bit over rated IMHO. However, I love what you're doing here, and there's something to learn from any build of this quality, regardless of subject matter.

[Phildaupho]

15 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Almost a shame to waste that chassis on the Ala Cart! It's a neat custom, but a bit over rated IMHO. However, I love what you're doing here, and there's something to learn from any build of this quality, regardless of subject matter.

Thanks Rusty - I agree that the Ala Kart has a great chassis that would work very well under many hot rod projects and yes there is always something to learn which makes this such a great hobby.

[Mr. Metallic]

Chassis looks great!

I love the wheel/tire set from the new tool AlaKart. Something that was pointed out to me by Dennis Lacy on one of my current builds is that the rear whitewall needs spacers put behind it to get it flush with the tire surface. 

[Phildaupho]

5 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Chassis looks great!

I love the wheel/tire set from the new tool AlaKart. Something that was pointed out to me by Dennis Lacy on one of my current builds is that the rear whitewall needs spacers put behind it to get it flush with the tire surface. 

Thanks Craig. Good tip about the rear white walls which I will try to do.

[Mr. Metallic]

28 minutes ago, Phildaupho said:

Thanks Craig. Good tip about the rear white walls which I will try to do.

Dennis suggested simple rectangles of plastic glued to the backside of the insert will work. Doesn't have to go all the way around the circumference because the wheel hides any gaps.

[Phildaupho]

1 hour ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Dennis suggested simple rectangles of plastic glued to the backside of the insert will work. Doesn't have to go all the way around the circumference because the wheel hides any gaps.

After I read your first post I pried the wheels and tires apart and cut a couple of rings from sheet styrene to go under the whitewalls. It definitely makes the rear tires look a lot better.

[Dennis Lacy]

Glad I could help, LOL!

This is coming along nicely. I’ll never understand why they made the engine so undersized in this kit. Everything else about is a huge improvement over the original but then the motor kills it. The most upsetting part is if it had been properly sized think how awesome it would be for kit bashing! Oh well...

[Phildaupho]

18 hours ago, Dennis Lacy said:

Glad I could help, LOL!

This is coming along nicely. I’ll never understand why they made the engine so undersized in this kit. Everything else about is a huge improvement over the original but then the motor kills it. The most upsetting part is if it had been properly sized think how awesome it would be for kit bashing! Oh well...

Thanks Dennis - I agree with you entirely. Previous to this project I have used two sets of the chrome wheels but in both cases used white slicks so never encountered the recessed white walls on the rear tires. These kits are a great source of cool parts and I bought all mine for cheap at swaps. I have also used various other parts such as the nerf bars, steering wheels and exhaust pipes