Two of Three remaining icons of the Jeep Parkway Facility in Toledo came crashing down yesterday.  The three smokestacks dated back to 1915 and have always been a well known part of the Toledo skyline.  The Third smokestack is going to remain, however the buyer of the land may opt to have it taken down at a future date. 

During the plant's 96 year history, almost 11 million vehicles rolled off the factory floor.  The last of which was as recent as 2006.  Production has since been moved to the new state of the art $2.1 billion Toledo Supplier Park. 

Chyrsler group has announced that the bricks from the smokestacks are going to be sold for a price of $39.99.  All benefits are to support the the Boys and Girls Club of Toledo.  "We're inviting Toledo residents to own a piece of Jeep history by purchasing the bricks from those smokestacks," said Frank Fountain, Senior Vice President - External Affairs and Public Policy for the Chrysler Group. "Proceeds from the sale will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Toledo. In addition, the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund will match the proceeds - doubling the benefit to this worthy cause. So in a way, the two stacks will remain a part of this community."  Information on the sale fo the bricks can be found at http://www.thescoop-cg.com/jeepbricks/.

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Chinese Jeep Wrangler Knock-Off

Anyway, back to the story.  These guys are truly backyard mechanics at their best.  They forged forward with what they had to create a respectable knock off.  Kudos to them.  You can read more about it at autoblog. 

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Again, I've been browsing around the internet looking for interesting Jeep stories, and for some reason I came across Jeep2Diesel.org.  Unfortunately, it doesn't really look like the page has been updated in some time.  But, I found it quite interesting to say the least.  A diesel engine in a Jeep CJ or YJ sounds like a perfect fit.  Plenty of torque for offroad adventures, not to mention relatively good gas mileage.  Of course, the downfall would be the risk of ripping any stock drivetrain apart.  Most likely it needed to be upgraded anyway.  Sounds like a good excuse to me.  But, just think, aside from good gas mileage, you could convert the engine to run on vegetable oil, and then you'd have an eco friendly trail rig.  Might be worth something.  Here are two links to people that have successfully completed the swap.  One is either a Cummins 4B or 4BT in an old postal Jeep.  The post is somewhat unclear as to what it is.  http://messages.jeep2diesel.org/viewtopic.php?t=153&highlight=postal.  The other is a 6.5L turbo diesel in a YJ.  http://www.thedieselpage.com/readers/fleming.htm.  Both appear to be viable options.

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