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1957 Ford Ranchero - Ranchero Rod
Don Lett's '57 Ranchero Blends Sweet Classic Styling With Modern Running Gear For The Best Of Both Worlds
You gotta love the '50s: cheap gas, cool old round-top Coke machines and jukeboxes, and some of the best Fords ever were available new for just a few thousand bucks.
One of those great '57 Fords was a new model called the Ranchero, a unique hybrid blending a heavy-duty station wagon chassis, and a passenger car cab and front end, with a cargo bed in the rear. Ford had been building F-1 pickup trucks since 1948, but those were conventional trucks. This new Ranchero shared not only the handsome styling with the big Ford, but its engine options, too. Ford offered it in two models for '57.
|66A Ranchero Custom
|66B Base Ranchero
Model 66B was your basic rig, light on trim and goodies, while model 66A dressed things up a bit with more elaborate trim and color choices. Statistics show that buyers preferred their Rancheros with some gingerbread by a margin of over 2 to 1.
Don Lett, a retired electronics businessman from Dallas, likes his classic Fords with modern running gear. In the '90s, he had Time Machines in Hudson, Florida, build an early Merc cruiser with Lincoln Mark VIII running gear. The project was a big hit, so when Don decided to add a classic Ranchero to his fleet, he naturally turned back to Time Machines, which specializes in these types of advanced conversions and has displayed many finished projects at the internationally attended SEMA show in Las Vegas.
Don's plans called for a first-year Ranchero body, powered by LincolnMark VIII running gear, just like his earlier Merc, and some suspension updates to give the car an aggressive stance with an improved ride. Don got busy looking and found a dry, well-preserved '57 body that would serve as a starting point.
"It was a really solid car," recalls Time Machines' leader, Mike Staveski. "From our perspective, it was about as rust-free as you can get."
Dismantling and removal of the old stuff was the first order of business. The front suspension and feeble, old drum brakes were pulled off, along with the original steering box, control arms, spindles, and coil springs.
In their place went a modern power-assisted rack-and-pinion system, eliminating lots of hiding places for loose steering and the slow ratio of the factory turning system.
"We added a Mustang II-style frontend from Fatman Fabrications, which really opened everything up," Mike told us. The Fatman suspension points weld to the factory frame and Time Machines' skilled fabricators created mounts for the new engine and transmission.
Offering up its parts for the project was a '98 Lincoln Mark VIII. Mike has swapped his share of Ford modular motors and says that getting the engine to sit where it's supposed to is usually the toughest task. "The biggest thing is getting them in-it's a very wide motor," he said. Fortunately, the '57's engine bay is huge, and with the new suspension and steering there was even more room.
Mike went with the Mark VIII's factory 4R70W automatic trans, which was plenty strong enough and already mated to the 32-valve late-model V-8 engine. Factory engineers do extensive driveability testing, and keeping the engine and trans together as a unit meant that the Ford fuel mapping and calibration would transfer intact.
Under the bed, the rearend is a stock Ford 9-inch with tall, 3.00 highway gears, and 31-spline axles-one of the toughest rearends ever used in a passenger car.
The 4.6L V-8 uses a light alloy block and heads, runs 9.9:1 compression, and is rated at 280 hp at 5,750 rpm. That's on the tame side, but Don really wasn't after rocket-ship acceleration. Instead, he wanted a car that had ample power, but also had top-notch driveability, and was easily capable of long, effortless road trips when the road beckoned.
So they elected to skip the hop-ups and use a factory computer. Extra effort was made in the engine's appearance, as the cam covers were plated and the intake was finished in red. Firewall plates cover the back of the engine compartment, helping to create a very clean engine bay. Don even took some of the work on himself, moving the Mark VIII fuel pump into the Ranchero's fuel tank.
The driving experience is a dream, as the classic '57 Ford benefits greatly from the updated driveline and suspension. No longer does the Ranchero follow every rut in the road thanks to skinny bias-ply tires, nor does it take forever to change direction, or get going under its own steam thanks to a lo-po engine. Instead, "it now rides, corners, and accelerates like a modern-day sports car-it's got plenty of power, yet I can get 24 mpg out of it," relates Don.
The engine's running manners are flawless, and because the drivetrain doesn't depart from the factory calibration, its operation is just as smooth as if it were still powering a Lincoln. That's worlds better than the old, original 190hp 272-cid Y-block engine.
Big, wide whitewall radials are mounted on T-Bird wire wheels, making an unmistakable premium statement. Steering is quick and precise thanks to a modern rack-and-pinion system, and an ABS Power Brakes booster applies boost using electrical current. The center of gravity is lowered thanks to a 2-inch drop in the front spindles.
Inside, the modernization continues with the Mark VIII's electrically adjusted leather bucket seats, and center console adapted to the '57's cab. A modern stereo fills the original dash location, while a Vintage Air A/C system keeps the cab cool and comfy through underdash outlets. The dash is padded, and twin spotlights are operated through interior handles. An ididit steering column mounts a LeCarra steering wheel wrapped in matching leather. Custom door panels integrate modern power window switches, though old-timers may recall that power windows were a factory option on the '57 Fords.
The body was kept mostly stock, though there is a vinyl bed cover. Don came up with some N.O.S. gold-anodized side trim, a signature piece found on the flanks of '57 Fords. Ford called its red/white color scheme Flame Red and Colonial White.
There's no denying the sensory impact of the finished product. The refurbed Ranchero works on all levels. Most classic Ford buffs agree that '57 was one of Ford's best styling years ever.
Ranchero Time Line
December, 1957: Ranchero Debuts
1960: Ranchero based on compact Falcon
1967: Ranchero moved to intermediate Fairlane
1968: Redesigned Fairlane/Ranchero introduced
1970: Fairlane/Ranchero redesigned again, 429 available
1972: Torino/Ranchero redesigned
1977: Last major redesign
1979: Ranchero production ends
They didn't need focus groups to tell them whether they had the styling right. Stylists had instincts; just let them work. There's more creative expression in the Ford crest on the tailgate than a whole container ship full of imports. They didn't have a lot of government regulations to work around; they just made the best designs they could think of. And if engineers had modern engines back then, you can bet they'd have built 'em just like Don Lett's retro Ranchero.
The Details
Don Lett's '57 Ranchero
'98 Lincoln MK VIII donor
281 ci/4.6-liter
Teksid aluminum block
Aluminum heads, 4 valves per cylinder
280 hp at 5,750 rpm
4R70W four-speed automatic overdrive
31-spline axles
3.00 gears
Stock 4.6 manifolds
Custom 2 1/2-inch diameter exhaust
Walker Dynomax mufflers
Front: Fatman Fabrications, Mustang II-style
Rear: Stock leaf springs, antisway bar, Monroe gas shocks
Front: Ford Racing, 11-inch rotors, single-piston calipers
Rear: Ford Racing, 11-inch rotors, single-piston calipers
Front: Kelsey-Hayes Thunderbird wire wheels, 15x6
Rear: Kelsey-Hayes Thunderbird wire wheels, 15x6
Front: Coker WWW M&S Radials, P215/75R15
Rear: Coker WWW M&S Radials, P215/75R15
Lincoln Mark VIII electric seats, console, shifter, ididit tilt steering column, LeCarra leather-wrapped steering wheel, custom door panels, power windows
Flame Red over Colonial White paint, twin Ford accessory spotlights
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London South Bank University
|Key Information
|London, England
|Percent International Students
|Famous For
|Engineering, Accounting, Science
|International Fees
|Key Information
|London, England
|Percent International Students
|Famous For
|Engineering, Accounting, Science
|International Fees
London South Bank University was founded in 1892 and officially gained full university status in 1992. Practical education and employability are given a strong focus at the University, with its central London location providing close links to business and industry. London South Bank is one of the largest universities in London with over 15,000 students enrolled, 2,000 of which are international from 130 countries. The main campus is located in Southwark, a short walk from major landmarks and near the South Bank of the Thames.
London South Bank University is a top 10 London university for graduate starting salaries, and the University received the highest possible rating for the quality of its education from the independent Quality Assurance Agency.
London South Bank University also offer a wide range of scholarships and discounts for international students, including nationality scholarships, fee-discounts for alumni and a 5% discount for early payment of tuition fees.
Services for International Students
London South Bank University provides extensive support before arrival, including an airport collection for international students from Heathrow Airport. The University also holds international orientation at the beginning of term to make students feel as at home and comfortable as possible. London South Bank University has a continuous Health Service centre that maintains and promotes health and safety for all its students.
- 126th in the Times University Guide 2023
- 96th in the Guardian University Guide 2023
REF 2021 showed that 68% of the research submission by London South Bank University (LSBU) was 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent', a 14% rise from 2014. 68% of the university's Research Excellence Framework (REF) submissions were classed as 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent', a 14% rise from 2014.
Student accommodation at London South Bank has been ranked fifth nationally and the best in London by the 'Whatuni Student Rankings 2015'. It has four halls of residence which provide almost 1,400 beds, and international students are guaranteed accommodation as long as the application is received by the required deadline. The Accommodation Service is also able to assist students in finding private rented accommodation in and around London.
London South Bank University's main campus is situated in Southwark on the South Bank of the Thames, a short walk from many of London's major landmarks. Waterloo and London Bridge are the nearest stations and strong transport links mean that the culture and nightlife of central London is very easy to reach and be a part of.
All of the London South Bank University's major teaching and learning buildings are within a small area, which is unusual for university in a major city and of a huge benefit to students.
- Frank Aubach (Painter)
- Russell Lissack (Musician, Bloc Party)
- Umer Rashid (Cricketer)
- Greg Searle (Olympic rower)

subset: commoncrawl


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Justin Alaniz
Lucid & Av8
Today's Generation
Dance Videos
Ballet Academy
Custom Dance Portraits
The Faces of Strangers project began years earlier with my admiration of stranger portraits by select photographers I closely followed. The idea of capturing a compelling image of someone I didn't know, on the spot, and in a manner which removed imagery context was something that I quickly knew I needed to do but didn't initially know how. I wanted to create a gallery full of eyes of people I did not know that others were free to browse, consider and wonder through a composition that disallowed any judgement of character apart from the absolutes of our core identity - our eyes, cheeks and mouth.
Deep down I believe that we are innately curious and interested in one another but do not all have it within us to explore the true depths of that curiosity. This project attempted to fulfill those curiosities, removed from context and judgement, while forcing me to explore my own unknowns in order to bring you a gallery of people, most of whom I had never met that approached me and my "free photo - a project about strangers" sign I posted on the side of the busiest street in Moses Lake, WA.
Nearly all of the photos were taken in the same location and through many seasons. Most of my time was spent on the small stool I brought for my subjects waving hello to people who passed, read the sign, and wondered just what it was that I was doing. Once a willing participant was seated, I spent about 30 seconds (usually about half that) capturing a handful of images - my favorite of which has been placed in this gallery.
We are beings who thrive on interaction, meant to learn from each other. We are here because of each other, for each other. We are not meant to be alone. This gallery is your chance to refresh your optimism, curiosity and wonder. Go ahead - look right into someone's eyes.
I had each stranger look into mine so that you can look into theirs.
Faces of Strangers
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From a treatise on John by Saint Augustine
The new commandment
A new commandment I give you, that you love one another.This commandment that he is giving them is a new one, the Lord Jesus tells his disciples. Yet was it not contained in the Old Law, where it is written: You shall love your neighbor as yourself? Why does the Lord call it new when it is clearly so old? Or is the commandment new because it divests us of our former selves and clothes us with the new man? Love does indeed renew the man who hears, or rather obeys its command; but only that love which Jesus distinguished from a natural love by the qualification: As I have loved you.
This is the kind of love that renews us. When we love as he loved us we become new men, heirs of the new covenant and singers of the new song. My brothers, this was the love that even in bygone days renewed the holy men, the patriarchs and prophets of old. In later times it renewed the blessed apostles, and now it is the turn of the Gentiles. From the entire human race throughout the world this love gathers together into one body a new people, to be the bride of God's only Son. She is the bride of whom it is asked in the Song of Songs: Who is this who comes clothed in white?White indeed are her garments, for she has been made new; and the source of her renewal is none other than this new commandment.
And so all her members make each other's welfare their common care. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is glorified all the rest rejoice. They hear and obey the Lord's words: A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; not as men love one another for their own selfish ends, nor merely on account of their common humanity, but because they are all gods and sons of the Most High. They love one another as God loves them so that they may be brothers of his only Son. He will lead them to the goal that alone will satisfy them, where all their desires will be fulfilled. For when God is all in all, there will be nothing left to desire.
This love is the gift of the Lord who said: As I have loved you, you also must love one another. His object in loving us, then, was to enable us to love each other. By loving us himself, our mighty head has linked us all together as members of his own body, bound to one another by the tender bond of love.
Via divineoffice.com


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He was a Marine City High School senior, two weeks out from playing in the high school football state finals at Ford Field and looking at a bright future when his world was changed for good by a suspected drunk driver and police officer.
Ryan Hagel, a now 19-year-old Marine City resident, was traveling on County Line Road toward New Baltimore on the night of Dec. 22, 2011 when he saw a vehicle turning toward him, head-on. Hagel swerved to try and avoid the vehicle, but was unsuccessful.
"I don't remember fully what happened after that," he said in 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore on Thursday at a preliminary exam.
According to the police report, William Snider, a now former Harper Woods Police Detective Lieutenant, was operating his SUV with a blood alcohol content of .22 percent when he struck Hagel with his Ford Explorer while going northbound on County Line Road. Originally, Snider was heading southbound on County Line Road, but witnesses reported he made a U-turn and began driving the opposite way, before he struck Hagel's truck.
Officers on the scene that night noticed Snider was lethargic, his eyes were glassy, his speech was slurred and he had a deep laceration on his forehead. Snider agreed to go to the hospital and blood search warrant was obtained.
Snider is now being charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious injury. The Thursday preliminary hearing was to determine if such injury was caused.
While the doctor set to testify was unable to attend the hearing, Hagel testified as to his injuries.
Over a year after the accident, Hagel said he still has constant headaches, his left side-shoulder, knee and hip-is damaged and he struggles with cognitive difficulties.
"He used to be fluent in Spanish and now he can only remember thank you and hello," Hagel's sister Christina Hagel, said following the hearing.
Prior to the accident, Hagel was a member of the Marine City High School varsity football team, an all A student and was active in extracurricular activities, such as helping young children learn the game of football. Since the accident, Hagel stated he has had a throbbing head pain he rated as a "10" and a knee pain he rated as a "9." While the pain has decreased in the last year, Hagel said he still deals with it regularly, along with neck pain.
"It's lessened, but it's still there, all day every day," he said of the head pain. "I can't really think as quickly as I was able to."
Since Hagel struggled with physical pain and cognitive abilities, he was not able to finish out his senior year at Marine City High School. While he was able to graduate with his class, he said the fact he couldn't participate in school the way he did before the accident upset him.
"It kind of hurt me that I wasn't able to go back," he said.
Christina Hagel said her brother had dreams of playing college football and working toward becoming a lawyer.
"He's just getting frustrated," she said of the situation.
"Some days I feel great, some days I feel terrible," Hagel explained of his current condition.
With the doctor set to testify as the expert witness, the preliminary hearing is set to be continued on Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. in 42-2 District Court.
Contact Courtney Flynn at (586) 716-8100, ext. 301 or email@example.com. She can be followed on Twitter @Ceemefly.


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AP-GfK Poll: Negative view of health rollout eases
WASHINGTON (AP) — Memo to the White House: The website may be fixed, but President Barack Obama's new health insurance markets have yet to win over most consumers.
Negative perceptions of the health care rollout have eased, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds. But overall, two-thirds of Americans say things still aren't going well.
Of those who've tried to sign up, or who live with someone who has, 71 percent have encountered problems. But the share reporting success jumped to 40 percent from a meager 24 percent in December.
"Everything is not perfect; it takes time to work out the glitches," said Carol Lyles, a homecare provider from Los Angeles who was able to get coverage as a result of the law. "If done right, I believe it will provide the services that are needed."
The poll comes with about 60 days left in open enrollment season. The administration is playing catch-up to meet its goal of signing up 7 million people in new insurance exchanges that offer subsidized private coverage to middle-class households. So far, the markets have attracted an older crowd that tends to be more costly to cover. Younger people in the coveted 18-34 age group are still mainly on the sidelines.
While the poll did not find a turnaround for "Obamacare," the trend offers some comfort for supporters of the health care law.
In December, 76 percent of adults had said the opening of the new markets was not going well. Such negative perceptions have now fallen 10 points to 66 percent.
Still, rave reviews remain rare.
Only 4 percent said things were going extremely or very well, while another 17 percent said things were going somewhat well.
Compare that to 38 percent who said the rollout had gone not at all well. Another 28 percent said things were not going too well. Add those together and it makes up two-thirds of the public.
"People were locked out of the system," said Karyle Knowles, a restaurant server from San Antonio. "They weren't able to access what they should have, which only added to the mayhem."
The White House had hoped to bring the ease of online shopping to the daunting process of buying health insurance. Instead, the federal website serving 26 states froze up when it was launched Oct. 1. Some of the 14 states running their own sites also encountered problems. It took the better part of two months to straighten out the issues with the federal exchange.
The administration reported Friday that 3 million people have now signed up for private coverage through federal and state markets, and another 6.3 million have been deemed eligible for Medicaid coverage. It's not clear how many of those were previously uninsured.
According to the poll, many website users have had a frustrating experience. Among those who've tried to sign up, just 8 percent say it worked well, 29 percent somewhat well, 53 percent not well.
The public's take on the law itself is stable, with 27 percent saying they back it, 42 percent opposed and 30 percent neutral. Those figures are unchanged since December.
People who have tried to sign up are more positive than the overall public — 46 percent say they back the law, 31 percent oppose it.
But among the uninsured generally, there's a more even divide, with 30 percent saying they support the law while 33 percent oppose it.
The major elements of the health care law took effect with the new year. Virtually all Americans are now required to get covered or risk fines. Insurers can no longer turn away people with health problems. And the exchanges are open for business.
Enrollment in the Medicaid safety-net program is also rising. That's partly because of a program expansion accepted by about half the states and partly as a consequence of previously eligible but unenrolled people now forced to comply with the law's individual coverage mandate. Last week, Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert said his state plans to become the 26th to accept the expansion.
The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Jan. 17-21 using KnowledgePanel, GfK's probability-based online panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. It involved online interviews with 1,060 adults, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points for the full sample.
Respondents were first selected randomly using phone or mail survey methods, and were later interviewed online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn't otherwise have access to the Internet were provided with the ability to access the Internet at no cost.
AP-GfK Poll: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com


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Fits frying pans with diameter 28 cm and 10 litre pots.Article Number404.492.05
What is glass?
Glass is mainly made of sand, soda and lime melted at a high temperature. Tempering or various additives gives you extra-strong and impact-resistant glass that in some cases can be taken straight from freezer to oven without cracking. A big benefit is how glass can be recycled over and over without the quality deteriorating. Also, a lot less energy is needed to melt recycled glass compared to new raw materials. Our goal is to eventually use only recycled glass in our range.