WAWUZAT Northstar build thread (lots of pix) (Page 1/16)
WAWUZAT APR 16, 08:58 PM
I made a couple individual posts about different subjects, but decided to clump them all here into one. I'll add more as I make progress. (Can y'all stand another build thread?)

First, here's the car in which I'll be installing a '95 Northstar with 4T80E transaxle. This photo was taken at the Fiero gathering at Carlisle in 2002.


I've been working on this car since 1992 when I installed the NAF (prior to becoming ASPP) GT40 MKII body kit. I've got the body mods where I want them, the suspension has been completely redone, though I'll probably add a heavy rear anti-swaybar after this N* swap.

Here's a shot of the donor car for the Northstar drive train ... a 1995 Seville SLS ... VIN-Y engine. This pic was taken in March of 2005.


This is going to be a fun rip-out ...


In June of 2005, I finally got around to yanking the drivetrain from the Caddy ...


Will add some more in a while.
------------------
GT40 rebody on an '85 GT ... soon to have N*-power // '05 Excursion // '05 Mustang // '06 Harley

[This message has been edited by WAWUZAT (edited 06-02-2007).]

WAWUZAT APR 16, 09:09 PM
The N* sat on that moving dolly for a couple years. I've been busy building an item I designed for Ford Excursions (google "Landyot" if you want to see that stuff). While the engine sat, I did a little research, and a lot of drooling at the CHRF website. While there, I found a couple images on porting N* heads. The following two pix show the D-shaped exhaust port, and the knife-edge inside the intake port.




This year is the year I'll get this swap done, but since the engine had 150K miles on it, I wanted to do a basic rebuild first. I want her to last at least another 100K miles before having to pull it out of the car again. Of course, that assumes I won't be hankering to do some high performance mods ... like bigger camshafts. Here's a naked shot of the N* on the engine stand.


And some of my parts stash, which includes an extra intake that has the newer metal fuel rail. Man, I love eBay!


More later.
WAWUZAT APR 16, 09:22 PM
I guess I should clarify that the two pix above of the int & exh ports were copied from an article about CHRF. Elsewhere in this forum, I posted the following pic that compares the VIN-Y (shown on the left below) & VIN-9 (on the right) camshafts. I bought a pair of rebuilt heads on (you guessed it) eBay that were advertised as being VIN-Y. After measuring the camshafts, I was pleased to learn I had scored a pair of VIN-9 heads.


I had a tough time getting the dowel pins out of the cylinder decks. After ripping the end off of one, I welded a 1/4" rod that was inserted through a drilled hole, and wedged them out. Even with this method, I still had to apply a little heat to one corner in order to get the aluminum block to let go of that wimpy little dowel.




This past weekend saw me cleaning the exterior of the block, crankcase & oil pan, and get some paint on them before the nor'easter blew into town ...


The exterior had previously shown some oxidizing, and I don't want to see that stuff again.

You can still see the original cross-hatching in the cylinder walls ... and this is after 150K miles!


That ugly looking stuff hanging inside the cylinder on the left side of the pic above is nothing more than some residue after having the block cleaned at a local machine shop.

OK, that's enough for tonight.

[This message has been edited by WAWUZAT (edited 04-16-2007).]

ryan.hess APR 16, 10:43 PM
Looks like you had a leaker!

You replacing the case half seals?

What are you going to do to it? Or have you decided yet?
AJxtcman APR 17, 02:35 PM

quote
Originally posted by WAWUZAT:


You can still see the original cross-hatching in the cylinder walls ... and this is after 150K miles!






That type of crosshatch is not good. It is a compression leak. In the near future " next 5 years" you will see a big change in cylinder wall finishing.
.
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Normal production engine. Factory build and most Machine shops.
You bore the block out and the bore square for the most part.
Next it is honed very course. Like a cheese grater on bondo.
Next it is honed Finer about 120 grit. This may be the end for some stock applications.
Next it may be honed to 240 grit even at the factory. This was not to common 10 years ago.
The cross hatch is in place the hold oil and lube the cylinder walls.
The ring that are used in todays vehicles ar for the most part low tension. If I remember correctly something like 80% of all the drag in an engine is in the cylinders. It is mostly the rings. Now most top rings are rounded for better sealing.
I will look for more info
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Set up a login and look at this
http://www.cleviteelearning.com/index.aspx
http://engineparts.com/
GKDINC APR 17, 03:38 PM
This is good stuff!!
Now as long as my AARP membership doesn't expirer I'll be watching.
Keep the photos coming.
Good Luck
Gary
Hudini APR 17, 04:01 PM
I read an interesting thing while researching welding on aluminum. Aluminum oxide (that oxidation you said you don't want to see) is second in hardness only to diamonds. It is very thin though. Melting point is higher than steel. (1200 pure aluminum versus 2300 for steel versus 3300 for aluminum oxide).

Its hardness is why aluminum oxide is used for a grinding medium.
WAWUZAT APR 17, 08:17 PM
I'll be using a Holley 950 Commander "Pro" engine management system (Thanks, Daviero!), and it does not utilize the Northstar's oil level sensor. I could just screw the old one in the oil pan and hope it never leaks, but I've seen oil sensors go bad before ... once in my own car. What a mess, let alone almost frying an engine. So I cut up the old sensor as shown in this pic ...


The quarter? It fit so nicely inside the old sensor housing, that I'll silver-braze it tomorrow to make a solid plug ... with no worries of oil leaks. I'll use Grade IV silver solder for brazing ferrous to non-ferrous metals.

------------------
GT40 rebody on an '85 GT ... soon to have N*-power // '05 Excursion // '05 Mustang // '06 Harley

WAWUZAT APR 17, 08:24 PM

quote
Originally posted by ryan.hess:
Looks like you had a leaker!
You replacing the case half seals?
What are you going to do to it? Or have you decided yet?


Yeah, this block was filthy on the outside, but the internals were in terrific shape. At assembly time, I'll follow the instructions of a TSB document that AJxtcman posted (or sent me ... I forgot how I got it, but I saved it on my PC) using a special GM RTV-type sealant. In fact, I already have a couple tubes of the stuff on hand.
WAWUZAT APR 17, 08:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by AJxtcman:
That type of crosshatch is not good. It is a compression leak. In the near future " next 5 years" you will see a big change in cylinder wall finishing.


AJ - Are you saying I should not use a similar method of honing my cylinders as the engine originally had? While the cross-hatching inside my cylinders is still visible, the cylinder walls have a shiny glaze. Also, the ring ridge at the tops of the bores only measures about 0.001" to 0.002" ... not enough to use a ridge-reamer IMHO. I was going to run a hone with medium grit stones through the bores, using kerosene as a wetting solution, and make only 5 or 6 passes. Now you got me wondering.