I thought long and hard about posting this on this site, but I really dont have the time to join another forum to ask questions that I know someone on here knows. Were all car guys right.?. Anyway, I think Im going to start a mid engine project using a Cad northstar engine and ****** combo. Has anybody on here used a northstar? What do I need to rob from the caddy. I know harness, computer, fuellines that stuff. How hard is it going to be to use this stuff from an electric standpoint like the speed-o stuff. Is there anyway to get rid of the useless **** and just make the engine and ****** work? I hope this makes sence...lol Please don't be a *** and give all the non trad ****. You were warned in the ***le. Thanks guys
im thinking steering column too for some reason..and maybe some on board diagnostics..relays..switches that kinda stuff..I have no formal experiance with that engine, but all this new **** these days have so much of "this system talks to that system" type ****
I wouldn't touch a Northstar with a 10 foot pole. Have one in the wifes Seville. What a POS. They run hot and leak oil like theres no tomorrow. Besides all parts are extremely expensive. Anything but a Northstar for me.
Check our vendor's for Benstad Adaptors/ transmissions in Blain MN, I know he supports the pile-up so look on their page. He has a Northstar unit in a Pontiac Ferio. jim h
Heard a lot of love it or hate it stories about the Northstars also... If you don't have to have a V8, how about gutting a pushrod 3.8 liter V6 from a late model Buick Regal or Pontiac Bonneville? It would be a lot easier, IMO, to convert one back to a simple system than a Caddy... Also a very tried and true engine design... There's also a chance of picking one up with a supercharger from a Bonneville SSEi (if memory serves)...Good MPG and power...
I remember at my old shop, one came in with a no start. Needed a starter. No problem. Then the "Oh ****, its WHERE????" Haha. How backwards.
They can make crazy power if you've got some money to spend. I've seen quite a few come through the impound lot with 150,000+ miles on 'em & they still run. The sandcar guys like 'em because they're like 400 pounds dressed and wet. Another one to consider is the olds aurora. Same basic deal, but the olds was a 4.0, and the caddy a 4.6. Here's guy who put one in an Toyota MR2. Talk about a sleeper! http://www.v8mr2.com/
Check out www.fiero.nl The Northstar, Aurora (shortstar), and 3.8 are all popular swaps for the Fiero crowd. And since you mentioned midengine, thats probably the source for your transaxle.
For that matter, just grab a junk Fiero and put a SBC in it, I have seen that swap as well... Stick shift Fiero trans-axle and a SBC is about as simple and "sensor-free" as it gets...
Had one in my Eldorado, talk about factory power....I could beet a 5.0 with lots of goodys on it. Down side... MAP sensor went out in it and that was a $800 fix. They put it inside next to the starter. Overall opinion.... Stick with a V8.
i have raced them in a landspeed racer,they haul*** in stock form,i have ported heads,cams,intakes for carbs etc for sale. randy@randydupree.com
Gene Winfield's "Maybellene" is a ’61 Coupe DeVille two-door with a Northstar engine. With not much modification these engines can be run in a rear-wheel drive configuration (as is Maybelline). A 32-valve DOHC engine that puts out over 300HP and a boatload of torque with less displacement than a 283 SBC and weighs under 400 lbs...how is this bad?
There is a Corvette engineer, Frank Parker, who put the entire drivetrain from a Northstar Caddy into a Corvair. Do a Google seach on "Frank Parker Northstar". I think he had some recommendation about using an earlier engine than he used because there were less electronics on the earlier engines.
Remember: The Caddy/Aurora motor was based on the Lotus/GM co-designed LT5 originally installed in 1990-95 Corvette ZR-1s. They are fantastic motors and can produce ridiculous power and return great economy. The one thing to remember is to *not* use GMs Dexcool with this engine. Ironically, it's the factory fill for both the Caddy/Aurora. Dexcool *eats* the head gaskets on these motors. There have been several instances of individuals with LT5s($10K *min* for a stock rebuild) where head gaskets have failed due to a previous owner switching to Dexcool sometime during the cars life. Pics of the head gaskets shows where the coolant has caused the failure. Further, Dexcool is acidic, and I wouldn't use it in *any* Chevy engine, regardless of whether it was designed for it or not. -Kats***
In 1992-ish..... Boyd Codding put one in Buz DiVosta's "37 Ford Roadster". They named the car the "Roadstar". An internet search might turn up something. If memory serves correctly they ran the Cad trans too. It probably never saw enough road time to ever know if it was a good idea or not. I bet it is sitting in a Florida garage right now with less than 500 miles on the odometer. JH
The car i'm planing should weigh in at right around 1900 lbs should be fun. I have thought about the supercharged v6 but I've got a good deal on the caddy, 700 bucks for the complete car wrecked 75000 miles I've got this old Kelmark gt body sitting around and you know...lol
the north star is a bad *** motor i have rebuilt one for 98 eldo and it ran hard. there was a sand rail web site that had a lot cam and intake options and i read that the rwd chevy trans bolted up with a little modification to the bell housing. i think ther is also something called the "fordalac" or something like that, post some pics when you'em
being a GM Tech fulltime, this was exactly what I was thinking. IMHO cool engine, lots of power, have made lots of money fixing them. I'm for any engine that pays 25 hours to replace headgaskets.
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