Tag Archives: engine swap

SEMA 2025: The 2017 Lincoln Continental V10 Swap That Shouldn’t Exist (But Does)

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Every year at SEMA you get used to the usual pattern.

Rat Rods. Diesel swaps. Twin turbo setups making 1500 horsepower. Restomods that cost more than a house. And then, buried somewhere between the corporate booths and the endless rows of first-gen Camaros, you find something that makes you stop walking for a second and just stare at it like you’re trying to figure out if it’s real or if you are just dehydrated after spending too long in the Las Vegas sun.

This year, that thing was a 2017 Lincoln Continental with a V10 shoved into it.

Not swapped in. Not “cleanly integrated.” Shoved in. With intent.

Built by Diego and Jack over at Build It Yourself (@biy_buildityourself), this Continental has been their personal 3-year quest to answer a question nobody asked:
“What if we took a modern front-wheel-drive luxury sedan and turned it into something that sounds like it escaped a prototype F1 testing program?”

And then, instead of stopping there…they kept going.

The Engine Situation Is Completely Unreasonable

Under the hood sits a 6.8L V10 sourced from a Ford truck. That alone would be enough for most people to call it a day, post a YouTube video, and go buy another project car to ruin. But that’s not what happened.

They went full send and built custom cylinder heads by literally cutting up and welding together four Ford V8 heads into two 4-valve heads for a V10. The result is what they’re calling the world’s first Ford 6.8L 4-valve V10.

As if that weren’t enough, the guys also fabricated custom camshafts, and a custom intake manifold for the engine. The whole thing runs on a FuelTech FT550 standalone ECU.

This is so much more than an engine swap, it’s re-engineering the entire car for a purpose it was never meant to serve.

At some point you have to assume they stopped asking “should we?” and switched entirely to “how hard could it be?”

Re-Engineered for Performance

From the factory, this Continental was front-wheel drive with an automatic transmission. Now it’s rear-wheel drive with a manual.

The guys swapped in a Getrag MT82 6-speed, which required fabricating a transmission tunnel into the floor pan like it was no big deal.

There’s something deeply amusing about a modern luxury sedan being forcibly converted into a layout it never had any intention of accepting. It’s like convincing a well-dressed accountant to start drifting.

The Subtle Parts That Are Not Subtle At All

Underneath all of this chaos is a Mustang subframe, because apparently nothing says “this belongs together” like mixing luxury sedans with pony car suspension geometry.

The full custom exhaust system has been fabricated to the point where it sounds like an F1 car. It sounds absolutely unreal coming from a sedate-looking sedan.

There are also a number of 3D printed components throughout the build, such as the custom intake ducts. It’s satisfying how this build combines traditional fabrication and modern prototyping methods, like 3D scanning and design.

It Still Looks Like a Lincoln (Which Is the Weirdest Part)

The most unsettling part of the whole thing is that, from a distance, it still looks like a normal 2017 Continental. It has the stock body lines, and even retains the stock wheels. The only hint (aside from the sound) is the custom front bumper with forged carbon fiber air dam and accents.

And then you realize that underneath what looks like a quiet luxury sedan is a hand-built mechanical science experiment.

That mismatch is what makes it interesting.

Built in a Garage. Not a Facility. A Garage.

The part that sticks the most is not the spec sheet, it’s the origin story. This wasn’t built by a manufacturer, or a professional race shop, or a corporate-backed SEMA program with a marketing department and a render artist.

It was built by two guys in a home garage in Michigan. Which raises the uncomfortable question of what exactly separates “professional engineering” from “extremely determined individuals with too many tools and access to YouTube.”

Because at a certain point, the line gets blurry. And this car is way past that line.

Recognition at SEMA

Somehow, among everything else at the 2025 show, this Continental earned Pick of the Show from automotive photographer Larry Chen.

Which feels appropriate. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s exactly the kind of thing that makes SEMA still worth walking through—something that shouldn’t exist, does exist, and forces you to rethink what is possible for a production car platform.

Final Thoughts

A modern Lincoln Continental was never supposed to become a V10, rear-wheel-drive, manual-transmission, garage-built engineering thesis with welded cylinder heads and an F1 soundtrack.
But that’s kind of the point.

This isn’t really about performance numbers or refinement or even whether it makes sense.

It’s about two people looking at a normal car and deciding, very calmly and very deliberately, that it wasn’t interesting enough yet.

And then fixing that problem the hard way.

Follow Build It Yourself:

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SEMA 2025: Nissan 240SX Widebody by Crown Speed Lab

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There are certain cars at SEMA that make perfect sense. You look at them and immediately understand what the builder was going for. Then there are cars like this Nissan 240SX from Crown SpeedLab.

I walked up to it in the Toyo Tires Treadpass Pavilion at the 2025 SEMA Show and spent the first few minutes trying to decide what color I should be looking at.

Not because the paint changes color or anything fancy like that. There are just so many colors competing for your attention that it starts to feel like someone opened Photoshop and clicked every swatch before heading out to the garage.

And somehow it works.
The car itself is a Nissan 240SX, although at this point “240SX” is probably more of a suggestion than an accurate description. Between the custom widebody kit, full roll cage, and everything else going on, there isn’t much left of whatever rolled out of the Nissan factory decades ago.

Another customization that’s hard to miss is the turbo exhaust sticking through the hood. The turbo is attached to a Toyota 2JZ engine, which feels almost mandatory at this point. If you told me there were more 2JZ-powered 240SXs at SEMA than actual Toyota Supras, I’d probably believe you without checking.
The engine bay is where things get especially interesting. There are anodized purple cam gears and a matching fuel rail, gold foil heat shielding, a dark green engine bay, and a bright blue oil filler cap. On paper, that combination sounds like something a middle school art teacher would use to explain what happens when a group project gets out of hand.

Standing in front of the car, though, it somehow comes together.

I think.

The longer I looked at it, the less sure I became.

There’s also a massive intercooler from Koyorad sitting up front, which is good because I have a feeling the phrase “moderate boost pressure” was not part of this build’s design notes.

The lighting deserves some attention too. The custom headlights feature yellow transparent honeycomb inserts that look like they belong on some sort of futuristic racing drone. Around back, custom LED taillights continue the theme of making sure absolutely nobody mistakes this car for a stock 240SX.

Not that they were going to.

The perfect stance was achieved with coilovers from Fortune Auto, while bronze Volk Racing TE37 wheels with electric yellow lips sit at each corner. If you’re keeping score, that’s more colors added to the list. The wheels are wrapped in Toyo Proxes R888R tires, which are about as subtle as the rest of the car. Behind them are Brembo brakes with cross-drilled rotors, with electric yellow calipers.
It’s funny, growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, a Nissan 240SX was one of those cars that always seemed just out of reach. Every magazine had one. Every import tuner build seemed to involve one. Every internet forum was full of people arguing about SR20 swaps, KA-T builds, and whether drifting was ruining perfectly good cars.

Now I walk through SEMA and see a 240SX with a Toyota engine, a turbocharger the size of a carry-on suitcase, and a small fortune of aftermarket parts. And somehow it still feels completely normal.

Maybe that’s the strangest part.

Twenty years ago this thing would have looked like a concept car from the future. Today it just feels like another chapter in the long history of people looking at a 240SX and deciding that whatever Nissan originally intended wasn’t nearly ambitious enough.

Either way, I spent far longer staring at the details on this car than I probably should have.

I’m still not convinced that dark green engine bay should work.

But now I’m thinking about painting something dark green, so maybe that’s how these things start.

Follow Crown Speed Lab:

https://crownspeedlab.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Crownspeedlab
https://www.instagram.com/crownspeedlab/

SEMA 2024: 1993 Chevrolet Corvette C4 Mercedes Turbo Diesel Swap – Kustom by Keck

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The Malaise Era of 1975 to 1985 was a dark time for automotive enthusiasts. With new emissions and safety regulations from the Federal government, cars quickly got slower, heavier, and uglier.

The 1972 Corvette was rated at a dismal 200 horsepower, while the full-size 1977 Monte Carlo was available with a 140 horsepower 305 V8 or a 170 horsepower 350 V8. The era of the muscle car had come to an end, and a new era had begun that was focused on efficiency, not performance.In an effort to increase the average fuel economy of its fleet, General Motors experimented with smaller engines, turbochargers, and other tricks and technologies to get more MPGs.

With so much attention on smog pumps and secondary air injectors, there was one thing General Motors never built: a diesel-engine Corvette. To do so would be unthinkable; it would be a sacrilege of the highest degree. While there were many prototype and experimental vehicles throughout Corvette’s history, no customer cars ever left the production line with a diesel engine from the factory.

However, Tennessee-based Kustom by Keck has transformed his 1993 Chevrolet Corvette C4 Greenwood Edition into a diesel-powered sports car. I saw his custom Corvette at the 2024 SEMA Show, at the Air Lift Performance booth in the Central Hall.The Corvette’s original powerplant has been swapped with a 1999 Mercedes-Benz 3.0L OM606 turbo diesel engine. It is paired to a 700R4 transmission from Transmission Mafia in Gainesville, Georgia.

This is the kind of weird engine swap I would have loved reading about in Grassroots Motorsports or Car Craft magazine back in the day (after reading about V8 S10 swaps, of course).

The Corvette rides on Air Lift Performance suspension, allowing for adjustable ride height at the touch of a button to achieve the perfect stance.The exterior of the car is a visual blast from the late ’80s and early ’90s, and it’s over the top in the best way possible. The car gives serious Miami Vice vibes with its white wheels and teal and purple custom pinstripe graphics.

Kustom by Keck didn’t stop with the visuals, either. This car is filled with unique custom touches, including a standout set of custom infinity mirror taillights from RetroVette, which provide a high-tech, futuristic flair to set it apart from every other Corvette. Every corner of this C4 has been considered, detailed, and reimagined.

In a world full of LS swaps and carbon-fiber everything, this diesel-powered, 90’s throwback C4 show car breaks the mold and refuses to fit in. It’s more Radwood than SEMA, and I enjoy highlighting custom car builders that do their own thing.

This one-of-a-kind car was recently advertised for sale on social media in June 2025, with an asking price of $15,000.

For more, follow @kustom_by_keck on Instagram.

SEMA 2019: 1983 Volvo 242 LSX Swapped

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What comes to mind when you think of Volvo? Probably words like safe, practical, boring. None of those are words that would describe Sean Fogli’s 1983 Volvo 242 coupe. The resto-modded car was featured in the Optima Ultimate Street Car area at the 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. I stopped in for a closer look at this amazing build.

What looks like a dull, early 80s Swedish car is actually a highly capable, tire-smoking, track-ready race car in sheep’s clothing. The car’s original 4-cylinder engine has been swapped for a GenIV 6.0L V8 LS engine mated to a T-56 manual gearbox. The cherry on top is an LSA supercharger from a Cadillac CTS-V, and an LS9 fuel rail and injectors.

Peering in the windows, the roll cage, Racepak display, and Recaro seats with Schruth harnesses are more clues that this is no ordinary car. This Volvo is set up to handle the twists and turns of a road course, which was definitely not in its original design requirements.

The car has a great stance and rides on CCW Wheels with Bridgestone tires. It competed in the 2019 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, an annual track event that is open to street legal cars and trucks.
The LSX badge on the rear of the car is one of a few subtle hints that this Volvo is definitely not stock. This is a super cool build and one of the standout cars of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge. I was privileged to see this car at SEMA 2019, and really enjoy featuring these types of custom cars for our readers. The car participated in the end of show SEMA Cruise on November 8, 2019.

Follow Sean Fogli on Instagram @hackster1.

Cadillac LSA-Swapped 1968 Buick Riviera

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It’s no secret that I’m a fan of resto-mods, as I cover plenty of them every year at the SEMA Show. The combination of timeless styling and modern turn-key reliability is a formula that many people find appealing. But as is so often the case, people tend to overdo it.

I understand that if you’re going to upgrade the engine and build a car, you’re also going to do better brakes, suspension, and fix up the rest of the car. As a matter of personal opinion, I am conflicted when I see an old car with 20-inch billet wheels, fender flares, and massive disc brakes. Are you trying to build a muscle car or a modern race car? It looks a bit odd to me to see carbon fiber air dams and projector headlights on a 1960s car.

With this 1968 Buick Riviera, they really got it right.

I spotted this car at the monthly Cars and Coffee gathering in Scottsdale, Arizona. The original engine has been swapped with a supercharged 6.2L LSA V8 from the Cadillac CTS-V. With 556 horsepower, it certainly packs more power than the original engine.

And again, there is that turn-key reliability. Modern engines can run on ethanol-blended fuels with no problem (ethanol blended fuels are sold in Maricopa County). Modern engines don’t need to have the valves adjusted every 30,000 miles. You don’t need to let it warm up on a cold morning. You don’t need to worry about vapor lock on hot summer days. You just get in, turn the key, and cruise.

This car appears to be set up as something of a sleeper/cruiser. It doesn’t have a wild paint job, crazy wheels, or anything to indicate that it’s packing a serious wallop under the hood. From the outside, it just looks like a clean, restored classic car. Even the exhaust tips with stock-looking turndowns are present.

I’ve got to hand it to the owner on this Rivera for doing it right by not over-doing it. Well done.

1988 Dodge Caravan SRT-4 Engine Swap

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Though it may be hard to imagine a time when minivans were ever considered cool, that was certainly the case in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the era before SUVs and Crossovers, minivans were the hottest thing on the market. Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca and his friend Hal Sperlich had imagined a vehicle that would hold seven passengers, have removable seats for extra cargo space, and get better gas mileage than a full-size van. Their dream became a reality in 1983, and the new Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Horizon minivans sold like hotcakes with sales topping 200,000 units in the first year alone. For the next 25 years, no one sold more minivans in America than Chrysler.

But somewhere along the way, minivans became uncool. The SUV boom of the 2000s and the Crossover Craze yielded vehicles that offered much of the same functionality without the “soccer mom” stigma of a sliding door.

At a recent car show in Scottsdale, I saw a first-generation Dodge Caravan that really caught my eye. For starters, this was a car show that featured primarily European exotic and high-end supercars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis. A 1988 Caravan with peeling paint definitely didn’t fit in with this crowd.

But as you might have guessed, this is no ordinary Caravan. This one has seen the original 2.5L 4-cylinder engine swapped out with a much more modern 2.4L turbocharged 4-cylinder from a 2004 Dodge SRT-4. Whereas the original engine made 100 horsepower, the new one puts out 230 horsepower in stock trim – but this one’s not stock.

With an AGP Zeta dual ball-bearing turbocharger, an air-to-water intercooler, upgraded fuel injectors, a MegaSquirt fuel management system, and a 3.5″ exhaust with Magnaflow muffler, this beast is putting down 305 horsepower and 365 lb-ft of torque at the wheels! Wow!

A spec sheet on the vehicle says it has run 12.6 in the quarter mile @ 111 mph on E85, 25 lbs of boost, and slicks. With a fast reaction time, that puts it on par with a base model C6 Corvette – for a lot less dough. It’s also been converted to 4-wheel disc brakes, with the front brakes and suspension from a 1995 Grand Caravan and the rear disc brakes from a 1993 Dodge Daytona R/T.

Part of why I love this van is because it pulls off the “sleeper” look quite well. The peeling paint and OEM-style wheels do not give any indication that this vehicle is actually quite fast, and the “Turbo” and “SRT” badges may be dismissed as purely ironic – until the turbo spools up and it blows your doors off.

The other reason why I love this van is that a long time ago, our family had a blue 1994 Caravan which I remember fondly. This was the era before dual sliding doors, power liftgates, and fold-flat seating. These old vans are super primitive by today’s standards, but the boxy design reminds me of my childhood.

I didn’t get to talk to the owner, but if you are reading this Mr. Caravan Owner, congrats on the awesome build.