Hey all

for those of you that already know, im dropping in a Cadillac Northstar V8 into my RX7. and for those of you that dont know well...i am.

LT1-10AE this is a call to you my friend i need some help with what stays and what goes concerning the power accesories like PS and AC on my 10th AE.

but today i finally got my engine outta my 10th AE. it went alot faster then i thought it would. here are some pictures of its progress

 

this is what jimlab added in another one of my Northstar posts

The Northstar V8 is approximately 28" x 26" x 31" (W x H x L). By comparison, an LT1 is about 24.75" x 24" x 27.5", and an LS1 is approximately 26" x 25" x 28".

Bare, the Northstar is about 400 lbs., but with all accessories, it's about 470. The LT1 is about 460 bare and 520 with all accessories, and the LS1 is about 400 bare and about 460 with accessories. By comparison, a 13B-REW with accessories and turbos is about 430 lbs.

The starter is located at the top center of the bellhousing, beneath the intake manifold. The Northstar can be converted to RWD by using a 700R4 transmission from a 60 degree V-6 powered S-10 or Camaro and welding in a special
pocket for the starter.

 

cool. definitely post pics of the progress!
hope everything works out easily for ya.

 

thats a awesome engine.. cool swap

 

oh i know its not; this is gonna be an awesome technical problem to figure out

 

very nice!

 

But doable! People have been swapping Northstars into RWD's for a few years now, it's not that popular a swap (no real upgrade path for the engine, just "gee whiz" factor) but the information to do it is out there. There was a Hot Rod a few years back that had all manner of info on the job.

 

ACTUALLY there is an upgrade path, at www.chrfab.com they have been building northstar engines for sandrails for years now. and so far thier highest power engine they sell is 2500HP!!! can you belive it!! they offer a bunch of head work and bottum end upgrades too the engine will provide the gee wiz and go fast factor. but my engine will be no where near high hp as that im going to stay close to stock for good maintenace, reliabilty, and modest power for what it makes 300-350 hp may not be that much but it will move that rx7 quite fast for its output. and low 13's or mid 12's and good gas mileage AND reliable thats all i can ask for in an engine car package.

 

anyparticular reason you went northstar over lt1 or ls1? or is that just what you had lying around?

 

im going with northstar because i have more experience with working on them, and as far as i know NO ONE has done it in a RX7 and i want to be the first. i dont wanna be a cookie cutter buy this copycat kit person i want to make my own swap and make it original and maybe be the only one to do it. because personally when someone does something original people want to do the same things because its cool and original but they want to buy it and be easy to do. thats why if i make the parts i cant put a price on these things and thus the car is original and is one of a kind. and its sort of a personal goal also to me 32 valves sounds cooler then 16 valves but personally, because its different

 

you're right it isn't going to be an easy project but a unique one.

how are you going to bypass the theft deterrent signal sent to the ECU?

if i were you also i would see if you can get a set of sealed power teflon skirted pistons for it as the stockers tend to wear and slap, stud the block and use high quality headgaskets, reseal the case halves while you are there and put in the tightest clearanced main bearings you can squeeze in there.

 

im going to run a totally stand alone ECU that CHRfab offers. and im not going to rebuild the engine until i start making significantly more power. but when that happens i'll definatly do that. and as for the pan im going dry sum so the engine isnt as tall.

 

What does one do with the water manifold hanging off the back of the block? That was my biggest hangup to considering the northstar engine.

 

well my good ol scapegoat CHRfab i believe makes a water log replacement so you can just route the lines else where. but im prolly gonna do my own custom water log with electric pump. dunno yet still a while aways.

 

hey guys i just wanted to post this little photoshop picture of what it may look like minus the purple paint.

thank you www.V8-mr2.com for the picture of the engine

 

just as an update guys the Northstar transplant has fallen victim to the financial college crisis, the money in which i stowed away for the swap is going to finance my college education. but stay tuned for updates

 

I hope that's NOT to scale.....

 

lol, you can photochop an engine in, but can't take away the rust.

 

ummmmm what rust?

 

You should have cleaned the bay before dropping the engine in j/k

 

you should have seen it before i did the cleaning, yeah ive done enough cleaning for a while

 

you know what? since financially i am incapable of dong the swap at this time i can just make some more wild statements about what i may do. all of a sudden i have been looking into the NEW northstar and guess what? its smaller!

this is actually a good benefit for me, the new northstar has 60 more hp over the older model , it also has a front mounted waterpump, better motor mounts, smaller oil pan, and VVT and coil on plug. its also alot more refined and has a bunch of little goodies that make it the right choice. i could go one step further and buy a V series engine loose .2 liters and gain 80 more over the already impressive 360hp with a sweet *** supercharger.

OLD northstar L37----28" x 26" x 31" (W x H x L)
NEW northstar---28" x 24.5" x 26.5" (non-V motor)
LT1 ---------------24.75" x 24" x 27.5",
LS1----------------26" x 25" x 28"

heres some pics to drool over
the first picture shows the all aluminum open deck construchtion of the block. the second picture shows how the main bearing is one large gridle assembly for a superstrong bottum end. and the third is the V seris motor 4.4L of doomsday destruction

 

That's great! I really wanted to do a northstar swap but the waterpump issue was more than I could stand.

 

That new northstar is pretty snazzy, but you have an oilpan in the way of your steering rack.

 

actually not really, look at this picture the oil pan raises up at almost the perfect spot, it is also about 1/2" smaller in hieght then an LS1. so hopefully it will work out magnificently