Ford Reviews

If, like me, you find yourself involved in the performance restoration of a '60s-era Ford engine compartment, and lament the fact that you didn't have the opportunity to squirrel away all the original factory shop manuals, Technical Service Bulletins, parts catalogs, shop tips, master cross-reference lists, showroom catalogs, and/or magazine articles about Ford's small block V8 then Bob Mannel's book is the answer to your dreams.

Ever offer to help your friend with getting their showroom-fresh ponycar to run like new...and then raise the hood and look in dismay at 30+ years of accumulated band-aids, temporary fixes, and well-intentioned but incorrect part substitutions...and wonder where will you ever find the hard data needed to get the engine bay looking & running the way that the original engineers intended?

Even if you have yet to get back into the car of your youth, but are seriously thinking of buying someone else's restoration, then this book could save you a lot of money. With it you can ensure that the 'HiPo 289' under the hood is the real thing, and you aren't spending your hard-earned money on a sheep in wolf's clothing.

If you can identify with the above (or even just know someone in this predicament) then I strongly encourage you to also purchase this book.

There are over 700 pages filled with almost 3000 separate pictures documenting how the engineers made running changes to all aspects of the engine & engine-driven accessories on the small V8s, from it's debut in 1962 through the end of the decade.

In addition, there are hundreds of tables, graphs, & drawings, covering everything from all the different radiator fans used in production to graphs covering distributor curves to listing what size main jets belong where in the original carburetor(s).

All the above may sound like trivial pursuit for motorheads, but to me there is nothing as satisfying as helping a friend to get their old pony car to run as good as/or better than new. (Don't forget about those TSBs covering cooling, carburetion, vibration, and other common problems that were figured out and fixes developed *after* these cars left the production line -- you would be surprised how many of these vintage cars never had the updates installed because the mechanics of the day would explain the quirky behavior with the infamous phrase: "That can't be fixed -- They ALL do that!" ;-)

Last but not least, I met the author at a recent Ford@Carlisle show, and after thumbing through his book I was incredulous -- it has the look & feel of the T.O.s I used to use when working on USAF fighters. If you have ever been frustrated by blurry pictures, vague writing at the conceptual level, or a complete lack of reference to real part numbers, then you will be just as pleasantly surprised by this book as I was.

The author purportedly spent 17 years gathering data & writing this book, and it shows. Simply incredible.

'Nature of a Sistuh' was not a main stream fiction about
a sista's attitude, but it was a story by and about the
lived experiences of Black women in contemporary culture.

The twentieth century has been as era of perpetual growth
and development for Black women in American society. And
the book aptly states, "From the popular culture of
advertising and film at the turn of the century where the
image of 'mammy' was pervasive; to the 1960s where the
image of 'welfare queen' was on the rise; to the present
where Black women's stories, both true and fiction, rise
to the top of bestsellers' list; Black women are continuing
to move from that predefined object, to self-defining
subjects AND toward center".

This book is a potent knowledge filled account of Black
women on the rise. It is expertly broken into two sections:
Section I - SISTUHS IN THE IVORY TOWER:
EXPERIENCE IN THE ACADEMY

Section II - SISTUHS READING:
QUIET STRUGGLES THROUGH LITERATURE

This is an excellent study guide, as it chronicles the
struggles, the victories and of course the 'nature', of
Black women. Much research was expended to develop this
book and the information shared shows truth in the once
popular expressions 'we've come a long ways baby', but it
also points out that, as an equally popular song says,
'we've only just begun'.

This is a must read if you want documented facts and
statistics showing how we have become who we are. Kudos
to all involved with this product.

Reviewed by aNN

If you are a fan of 1950's Fords, you NEED this book. I really enjoyed seeing the up grades that were included with each new model year and the latest and greatest options. I liked the way that the author used unrestored autos to show the different models. Good addition to any automobile enthusiest's library.

The Office is a light and funny depiction of a dysfunctional law firm that, while clearly a satire, retains a feeling of truth-telling about it. The heroine, Vickie Robinson, is a fledgling lawyer at a firm whose partners put their drinking ahead of legal concerns, and the resulting chaos this creates for Vickie in both her professional and love life is described in the first person with equal parts amusement and exasperation. A pleasure to read.

A great board book for young children to use. Can show kids what they can do! About animals with excellent color illustrations, and I recommend it for students K through the 2nd grade. Also recommended for teachers and parents.

"Origins of Southern Radicalism..." traces the evolution of Upstate South Carolina from a frontier of subsistance farms to a cotton and slave dependent society preceding the civil war. It reflects the economic situation (supported by a surprising amount of data), the development of trading, merchants and towns, the religious sentiments of the time, and how the mixture of cotton, money, society and externally ineffective religious conviction led to disharmony and war. If anyone wants a clear window into the conditions and issues that led to our Nation's worst horrors, read this book.

"Origins" is academic in nature, and a "slow read". But, it needs to be in order to accurately document what was going in the decades leading up to the civil war. The book is built on primary evidence, and is as unfiltered a flow of facts and events as is possible. The author shows no Northern/Southern bias - just reveals the facts of the times. More than any of the numerous books I have read on the civil war, this one answers the biggest questions: "How was this tragedy of slavery perpetuated and how did this horrible war happen?"

There is a lesson here for all future generations concerned about human rights and the failure of politics to achieve favorable outcomes.

This book is a treasure! It tells of many of Mary's appearances since the 1800s and weaves them together as a story, rather than a documentary. It begins with the origin of the Miraculous Medal after appearances to Saint Catherine Laboure and eventually weaves into the picture later events including Lourdes, Fatima and others.

For those of us who seek and love religious classics, this is certainly one of them. It exaplained many details I had never encountered before and made the last century and a half an exciting journey in faith.

The Palace File should be number one on Hamid Karzai's reading list! The promises made in secret between one nation's leader and another have little value, it seems. Some would argue that such secret pledges should never be made by the elected leader of a true democracy. "Our" sincere pledges never to abandon an ally and never to waste the blood sacrifices of American troops are well-documented in The Palace File. The documents speak for themselves.

Those who doubt American staying power in the "war on terrorism" will find much ammunition for their arguments in a quick read of this sad tale of failed adventure in Vietnam. Our new but familiarly avid "nation builders" need to study The Palace File before they charge full-speed down the same slippery slope toward ignominy.

So far Cassandra has a good modeling career, that is until she starts breaking the rules. She does some things without telling her housemother. Cassandra even gets her roommates into trouble by getting them to cover for her. This is a great book

This author has done extensive research on this topic. Dr. Ford has published numerous papers and articles. I have had the privilege of discussing literature with her, and have been impressed with her insightfulness. Chris Hayes