Well,
I was able to win an auction on ebay and i'm gonna have to put the LS1 swap on hold for a bit, doing this in favor of a Northstar Conversion. Engine had a bad headgasket apparently, but i was able to pick it up for around 120, so i said worst case i'll resell it if it's "unfixable". the engine is less fly wheel/ accesories , getting a starter from the guy along with the intkae manifold, fuel injectors, throttle body, and some other little stuff for an additional 75 bux, so the total so far is 200 bux...maybe by summer i'll have eveyrhing i'll need to get things going better...but we'll have to wait and see...there was an article in hot rod aboutpeople putting them to the 60* trannys for hot rods etc. And i saw a pic of a 4th gen that had transplanted one into it's engine bay, and with all the swaps into fieros and whantot, i'm sure the wiring gremlins might not be that bad after all , so i think i'm good to go...Wish me luck, and as any progress goes forward, i'll keep on postin.

 

Luck

edit: 85f-bird: Isee your buick swap & raise you a caddy

 

project, you're doing the 3800 Series II swap aren't you? That should be a fun one. I was online and reading around when i noticed something saying that FWD versions of that engine are compatible with the 60* bellhousing, hmmmm, is that what you're going for? For the Norhtstar swap i'm gonna have to start inquiring with some different places to find out what i should do about motor mounts. Guess i'll end up going to the one company thatt deals in the aftermarket for these engines, hopefully mounts won't be all to expensive. LOL.

 

3800 Series II blocks are the same for FWD & RWD applications. When I pull the tranny (what fun that always is, need to get the 3 feet of extensions & swivel ready) I will do some pics of teh 700-4R & teh 4L60E bell housings.

 

Yeh, lil curious as to how hard that lil' swap is going to be. IS this the rear drive version that you're using found in camaros? or is it a the FWD one, all the same or not, just curious.

 

The motor/tranny are from a 95 Camaro w/the 3800 engine. So it was a Cali car.

 

Northstar is a worthy mod. I have seen lots of hot rods packed with them and I think your right, they use the v6 700r4. The northstar is a 60* degree motor.

Matt

 

Yes it is a 60 degree v8. Will work nice, look exotic and cool. Should bump you up to 220 HP...

 

lil more than 220, 295-300 from the factory. Not to shabby, in Street Rodder they're doing a big write up on em, they're pushing these lil things to 800hp and hoping for a grand out of others. With a different intake and a set of headers a basically stock northstar went from 295 to 375-80 hp, not bad considering. Gonna dig up that pic of one in a 4th gen, it's a tight squeeze, but i think it'd fit between our strut towers, turn the intake a 180* spin and buy the motor mounts from chrfab.com to get it sitting RWD, work out the waterpump issues, and move the one bolt on the tranny that needs moving along with cutting a little bit to allow the factory starter to go with it and things are set. All left after that is wiring, and since there's such an aftermarket with these things now, wiring shouldn't be the most difficult thing to find, so for the most part, it's straight forward. If i didn't have to worry about emissions, could do the carb swap and ditch the computer, then we'd be rolling up and fast.

 

they make a carb intake for northstars?

 

Yep,
The company Cadillac Hot Rod Fabricators (CHRF) makes tons of different intakes for the northstar. Some of them are running carbs w/o all the fuel injection parts, you can also buy the car setup but have the intake set for fuel injectors and simply place a TB over the 4bbl, and they've also done work with the Holley Commander TBI setup. Then they've made HighRise Dual Quad setups, along with Hi-Rise Dual TB setups that use fuel injectors in the manifolds, the list is endless....some really cool stuff going on over at that comopany.

 

The Northstar has to be cool.
Its not only a 60* but its a HEMI also.

Matt

 

found a couple of those pics....





These are all pics from going into a 4th gen maro....if it'll fit there, it'll fit in a 3rd gen....(hopefully) But i'm sure i'll eventually found out, and at worst case, a lil' banging never hurt anything....

 

wow, i really hope that works out for you.... no one else has done it... and it seems that alot of the interesting engine swaps go into camaros instead of birds. best of luck with it.....

oh, that is a sweet looking engine too! definitly looks better than an ls1 with those huge valve covers and no ignition packs!

 

I hope it doesn't need more than just a head gasket. When will it be delivered?

 

THIS SWAP SOUNDS SO BITCHIN!
GREAT IDEA & LOVE THAT PIC!
Yeah you've got the correct tranny as a 60* version is needed for the shifting.

 

Actually i picked the engine up tonigt. A buddy and me drove to kansas City backed the car into the guys grass and up to the porch (he told us we could) and loaded the northstar that he had left sitting on the porch along with the intake and coil packs. I dropped 50 bux under the guys door for the intake and packs then we tied her down and made the hour drive back to my lil' college town. The motors sitting in the bed of my friends ranger for the night, gonna move it into the schools automotive department bays on friday. The man selling the engine has a good ebay rating, and every feedback he's gotten for a part he's sold says "item just as described" so i'm assuming this won't be much differennt (knock on wood). he said it was the cars rear head gasket, i noticed that the rear valve cover was only being held on by one bolt so i pulled it up slight so i could look under it, used a flashlight and the cam lobes looked to be in perfect condition (no visible wear at all) hopefully the same can be said for the rest of the engine and the money i'll have to put in it wlil be minimal.

P.S.

I've got the intake on my floor right now, the thing looks damn near identical to a LS1 intake manifold, does anyone know how close this is? i might have to compare it to one this week and find out.

 

rear head gasket, never mind, it sat "krookid" like my GP engine does

I would think the Caddy intake to be narrower, due to it's being a 60* engine, not being as wide as an LS1

 

yeh, wouldn't doubt if it was a lil' narrorer, gonna get some pix as soon as i can borrow a friend of mine's digital camera...and yeh, when the guy said "rear" i thought he was an idiot, until i thought about the East/West setup. LOL. then i felt like the moron.

 

well finally got an e-mail response back from the people who put the engine in the camaro....their website lists no details on swapping that engine into the camaro, according to them this is because of how extensive the swap was and how costly it came out to being. From looking at the swap in relation to things i really don't see it being that costly or actually that difficult. According to their rep. the cost was more than 18,000 in labor and 7,000 in parts. Most of their parts were fabricated by themselves which leads me to believe that no one else was manufacturing those parts at thetime the swap was completed, they were most likely being the guinie pig of the group, which has awesome advantages (the photos) and disadvantages (the cost). Gonna see if i can perform this at a more "economical" level.

 

well at least the initial startup is cheap

 

i can see how new stuff may have to be fabricated.... what has to be done with regards to motor mounts... do you have to fabricate those? will the tranny sit in the same spot as it does with the v6 or will it have to be moved? i would assume that a custom set of headers will have to be bent up....right?

oh, and with those dohc heads, i can see how the engine would be pretty wide even though its a 60* layout. oh, do you think that the tranny you have in there can take the power that the northstar makes? i'm very curious about your project and i want to keep this thread going to see how it progresses.
best of luck to ya!

 

This is awesome.

I need to get another V-6 car so bad. I have seen so many great things role out on this board since I sold my car. We have a Turbo car, and a few others following. Quite a few 3.4L swaps, and now this Caddy V-8.

This Caddy Idea has to be one of the best in a while. I am glad to see people are thinking ahead, rather then the usual if I get a leaf blower ..... well you get the idea.

Any way Good luck, and keep the idea's coming guys, so when I re-enter the V-6 f-body world I have some projects to look forward too.

 

So I assume a T5 would bolt up just fine too. To a 3800II???


Matt

 

alright, things i've thought about or have done a little research on. The motor mounts, CHRF makes a set that bolts to the engine, however you're responsible for making the tubular mount that holds that piece to the frame, no biggie have major acess to a welding company, anything i need fabbed like that can be taken care of at cost. Will the Transmission hold up, i don't know. The verdict tends to be, no. not in stock form atleast, however in modified form it'll be as strong as a modified v8 transmission, so that hsouldn't be to bad of a deal. plus my transmission was rebuilt just after i placed the new v6 into the car, has trans go kit, larger boost valve, and vette servo, and is all of 2.5 years old, will probably need another rebuild, possibly before this all goes through, or i'l lsend them another core and tell them what's needed, no biggie either. Alright, other things, will the tranny sit in the same location, if i can make it i will, that's going to be a factor as to where i place the motor mounts to the frame, (the may not go in the factory holes, no biggie there, but it's a possibility. If i can keep the tranny in the same location then i will, if not then i have to think custom drive shaft. for this fix we look to the welding hook up mentioned before. lets see what else, the headers will most likely be taken care of by my best friends uncle, he owns 3 minekees and provides all the hook up w/ uh, everything needed. (my full exhaust cost 20 bux) we also had mandrell bent exhaust setup for the chevelle (cost free) and he has the mandrell equipment, so that's where thosell probably come from. Other thought from the sideline, thinking that to minimize downtime and using my car as a "guiniee pig" that getting a 2.8L camaro wouldn't be a bad idea to use as a test mule. This'll be for fabbing up the motor mount locations, tranny location, ummm, just about finding out where everything's going to sit int hte car, and it'll relaly help with everything. The other good news about it, my best friend (mentioned earlier) has a brother in law, the guy has a 86 or so camaro sitting in the front yard, flat tires, destoyed interior, etc. good thing is it's a sixer, so it'll work perfect as a test mule, and the whole car's worth about 100 bux. That should severily reduce the downtime of my vehicle, so...that looks like the route to go, that or find a junk maro in a yard that i can get for hte purpose of the same thing. Neway, that's the update...ps the block is now in the shop on an engine stand, i just pulled the plugs 5 looked to be running a lil' lean the others looked fine, cam lobes look good (wear but not worn out) might hold off on pulling the bototm end (heard the reseal kit will cost me about 4 times what the motor did) and just hope for the best, but only time will tell what i'll do with that idea. the dough may start flowing in again, and the plans may change. thanks for all the interest, i'll keep the posts coming as they develop and i'll also try to let no one down.

 

In the Jegs catalog, there's a tubular K-mbr kit for like $450

 

Erm.. actually, like (almost?) all more-than-2-valve-per-cylinder DOHC heads, it's pent-roof, not hemi.. the physics of putting more than one valve per side into a curved combustion chamber are obnoxious. pent-roof designs are more efficient than hemi chambers anyway.. but even then, it's silly to say "But it's a Pent-roof also", since DOHC kinda covers the entire picture, pointing out that it's a 32 valve motor, etc.. so.. yeah. Not bashing your assessment, since the 2 are better related to each other than they are to wedge design.. just correcting misinformation.

Dude.. not only is it 60* (60 degree POWAH!!!), but it's a quad-cam V8! YEAH! hmm.. northstar or LT5.. now I'm somewhat torn.

 

wow 85fbird, you've got a pretty good situation when it comes to the right connections for this project. thanks for the detailed post, and once again, best of luck with it! i wanna see your bird become a screamin northstar thirdgen!