Built by: Ira Dahm in Cotati, California

The Ala-Truk is based on AMT's new Ala-Kart kit, with one big difference: the original body was replaced with the Revell '29 Ford closed cab. I built the Ala-Truk to look like a full size show truck that might have been built by George Barris, if he had started the Ala-Kart with the closed cab body instead of the roadster body.

Here's how it was done. The '29 Ford closed cab styling was reworked to get smoother body lines, better rearview visibility, and increased leg room in the interior. First 1/4" was removed from the front of the '29 Ford cowl, and it was replaced with a 3/8" from the Ala-Kart cowl. The rear window was cut out and enlarged to the inside of the rear window molding. With CA glue, I attached a strip of .080" 1/4 round plastic strip to the inside corners of the rear edges of the cab. This made the corners thick enough so that I could round off the outside edges of the cab. Trim around the sides and back of the cab was made from 1/32" plastic strip. The floorboard of the cab was then trimmed to fit around the raised area of the Ala-Kart floorboard.

The front curved edges of the pickup bed were cut off flat to match the flat back of the new cab. Next 1/8" was cut off each end of each rear side of the Ala-Kart fender/floorboard part where it fits into the pickup bed sides. This allowed me to move the pickup bed forward 1/8". The side pipes are going to be mounted vertically on the back of the cab so, the running boards and front fenders were narrowed to the width of the running boards, (without the side pipes). Many of the new stock Ala-Kart parts had to be modified to fit properly. Be sure if you build this kit, to pre-fit everything before gluing parts in place.

The Ala-Kart dashboard was trimmed to fit the new cab. Seats from AMT's '62 T-Bird were used and "Tuck-N-Roll" door panels made from Evergreen "metal siding" sheet plastic. The interior was done in flat white and black with gold accents.

The Ala-Truk is painted with Plastic-kote Classic Metals "White Icing" spray paint. The tailgate and other parts were painted gold for contrast. Ala-Kart decals were applied, except for the roof and bed decals which were replaced with black graphics tape. Testor's Glosscote was then applied to the body. Most other painting details were done to match the original Ala-Kart. The exhaust pipe and injector ends were drilled out to look more realistic. Small mounts were made from strip plastic for the side pipes that were attached to the rear of the cab.