Photo: eBay
We’ve seen a lot of engine swaps. A Lamborghini Diablo with an LS3 V8, a Porsche 928 with a Toyota V12, you name it, the intercontinental engine swapping trend grows with each passing day. This time around, eBay is the place to buy an older Kia Sorento with a big-block V8 that displaces a whopping 468 cubic inches (7.7 liters).
When it was brand spanking new, the 2005 Kia Sorento LX cost about $24,370 in four-wheel drive format. As a mid-size crossover SUV of the Noughties, engine options were limited to 3.5-liter V6 with an anemic 192 ponies on tap. The owner of this Sorento says that the original vee-six was driven for about 90k miles, until the V8 came in.
The Kia owner doesn’t mention a thing about horsepower or torque, but the Chevy 468 big-block engine is good for 600 horsepower and 600 lb-ft (813 Nm) without stretching its legs too much. An online shop sells 468s for $10,900 for the complete package.
Despite the cost of the engine, original price of the 2005 Kia Sorento LX and the massive amounts of elbow grease for the engine swap procedure, have a wild guess how much this ride goes for at the time of writing?
After 20 bids and with less than a day to go until the eBay hammer falls, the highest bid stands at $3,300. OK, so the reserve is not met, but my God that’s cheap as dirt. More so if you consider the odometer showing just 2,754 miles (4,432 kilometers) since the engines were swapped. The tan interior and gauges may be a bit dull, the paint job has seen better days, but c’mon - this SUV is the ultimate sleeper.
On the technical front, the owner also added a 700R4 automatic transmission and a P205 transfer case with stock rears. A word of warning to end this piece on a bombshell: “brakes are stock.” That’s scary, but hey, if you’re willing to take the risk, only 14 hours left to bid on the weirdest engine swap of them all.
The Kia owner doesn’t mention a thing about horsepower or torque, but the Chevy 468 big-block engine is good for 600 horsepower and 600 lb-ft (813 Nm) without stretching its legs too much. An online shop sells 468s for $10,900 for the complete package.
Despite the cost of the engine, original price of the 2005 Kia Sorento LX and the massive amounts of elbow grease for the engine swap procedure, have a wild guess how much this ride goes for at the time of writing?
After 20 bids and with less than a day to go until the eBay hammer falls, the highest bid stands at $3,300. OK, so the reserve is not met, but my God that’s cheap as dirt. More so if you consider the odometer showing just 2,754 miles (4,432 kilometers) since the engines were swapped. The tan interior and gauges may be a bit dull, the paint job has seen better days, but c’mon - this SUV is the ultimate sleeper.
On the technical front, the owner also added a 700R4 automatic transmission and a P205 transfer case with stock rears. A word of warning to end this piece on a bombshell: “brakes are stock.” That’s scary, but hey, if you’re willing to take the risk, only 14 hours left to bid on the weirdest engine swap of them all.
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