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NorthStar

I have been fighting getting the Oil Pressure gauge to work. The oil pressure sending unit on the Northstar controls the fuel pump. Essentially if you have no oil pressure it stops the car so you won't ruin your engine. The only output from the unit is to a warning light that does not carry the proper signal to drive the VDO oil pressure gauge. It was necessary to get a sending unit. I got one from http://www.egauges.com/ and they had very good prices. Anyway, I had to drain the oil, remove the sending unit, (requires a special socket - well worth it) then add in a 3/8" NPT nipple 2" long then a 3/8" tee. The tee then had to have a 3/8" to 1/8" NPT adaptor to fit the sending unit. The sending unit was then installed and the wire run to the gauge and I now have oil pressure.
North star owners. The VDO guage will not pick up the tach signal from the Northstar. The northstar puts out a 5 volt square wave signal. I contacted VDO, they will do the modification for free. I sent my guage to them, two weeks later it came back, plugged it in and now I have a functional tach.
I installed a temperature manifold to feed my Water temperature Guage. (Jeg' part number 01052286). I tapped int0 the hot water line that comes off the main radiator hose. I installed the Cadillac temperature sensor and the necessary fittings into the manifold. I fabricated a bracket that would hold the assembly. I did the wiring and connected the guage. I'm getting very low readings and it maybe that I need a different sensor than the Cadillac to go with the VDO Guage.

I have been trying to hook up the speedometer. I finally used the wire from the Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) that ties into the computer. I made the splice at the computer so I didn't have to run a second wire to the VSS. I fabricated a bracket to hold the rear radiator pipe to the trunk floor.


I soldered a jumper from the sending unit closer to the Full position. You can use your Ohm Meter to see where it reads 90 Ohms.
I had a problem with the hose and air cleaner setup that I was using with the Northstar. It draws so much air that it was collapsing the tube. I installed a cone K&N filter that fits like a glove in the space. I also bought a VDO fuel pressure guage as I have been experiencing some rough idle on the engine. It runs steady at 50 PSI. That eliminated the fuel pump as a problem and the guage looks really cool.
Received my car back with the exhaust system installed. They used two mufflers stacked on top of each other and took the exhaust from each header into a separate muffler. The mufflers are Turbo packs and the tips are Angeles Chrome Tips. I also have A/C working in the car


I got the fan relays connected. I still have some testing to do. I intend to keep the A/C on the Fiero side only. The fan relays will control the left and right radiators as a Hi and Lo.
I installed the Oil Cooler kit on the Northstar. I still have some work to do to connect the hoses to the cooler itself
A/C connections. This is going to be a challenge. My wiring harnesss did not come with the A/C integrated in. Below are some of the ingrediants that are involved in making this work. Please wish me luck 
The picture on the left is the 97 wiring harness that I am using parts from to integrate into the Howell harness. The picture on the right is part of the harness that I have connected to the pressure sensor and the A/C compressor.
The page on the left is the wiring schematics for the A/C on a 95 system. The page on the right is the Haynes layout for the Fiero. Solution make left and right work together.
I have had numerous questions on connecting the Howell wiring harness to the Fiero System. I am currently working on the electical connections and have the A/C challenge in front of me

I got my adapters to take me from the 115 mm pattern on the Alante to the 100 mm pattern for my wheels. I had them made 1.75" wide to give me a little extra spacing on the rear wheels to fill out the wheel wells
I removed the Fiero spindles and hubs and have replaced the lower ball joints. I received my axles from Shram Auto Parts. ($170). Had them shortened 3/8" off each end ($127.73) and cleaned up the Pontiac 6000 spindles that I got from Shram ($90). I received the Alante hubs ($175) and installed them in the 6000 spindles. I have been looking for brake solutions that will allow me to maintain the cable emergency brake. I understand that the 6000 spindle is the same as an 88 Fiero I will be checking with Lothar Bacher who used the same setup to find out what he did for brakes. I still have to get adapters to take me from the 115mm to 100mm bolt pattern. Hopefully I will be mobile very soon. 
I installed an air cleaner from a 89 Buick Century that had the proper size for the throttle body. The opening is facing down. I maybe able to do some ducting and give it a Ram Air setup from one of the top vents.
Last weekend I got the linkage hooked up and now I have the throttle cable connected I took the cable from the Northstar and cut it, and used a cable fastener to made a loop. I took the bracket from the Fiero and cut it up and fabricated a bracket that accepts the Fiero throttle cable. I stripped the cable back far enough to allow the full motion of the linkage and then looped it through the Northstar cable and secured it with another cable fastener.
The radiators are now completed. I have the body back on and the fans mounted in front. I will add a filler cap in the hose on the right radiator to facilitate filling. I can fill it through the surge tank but this will make it easier.



I have to make some adjustments to the radiators. Once I put the body back on, I found that the position of the outlet on the back was too close to the body. I need to have them rotated 90 degrees to point up. This will allow me to use a 90 degree hose connection and clear the body. I should get this done next weekend. I also determined that I won't have the required clearance to mount the vans in the rear. I will mount them in the front. Of course this means that I now need to remount the fan mounts on the frames. (I sure hope these "adjustments" help someone else and they don't have to make the same mistakes that I did). performance.

The transmission cable needs to be reworked to adapt the fiero shifter to the Northstar. Because the Northstar is in the rear of the car, the Fiero changes gears by pulling on the lever. This is completely backwards to the Northstar. It requires the lever be pushed to change gears. I had to flip the shift lever 180 degrees on the transmission to get this to work. In order to make this new connection work.It was necessary to shorten the shift lever to clear the heater hose. I also had to straighten the brace that holds the shifter cable. To straighten it, I had to cut at the corners and then reweld. I am using the Northstar shifter cable and have routed this through the firewall. I will need to mate the Fiero Shifter Cable to the Northstar Cable.
On the Left was the temporary setup until I could make sure it works. Now that it is working, I cleaned it up a bit as shown on the right. I fabricate a bracket that I fastened to the old Fiero Computer holder so the computer is still isolated from the chasis.


The radiator is fed from the top and there is a baffle in the radiator halfway down to force the water across to the other side of the radiator. I have the return line on the back of the radiator because I wouldn't have room on the front. I have the piping laid in position on top of the existing hose. The pipe near the engine compartment will have to have a Y installed to feed to the right radiator.  The close up of the hoses show the braided return. Below that is the muffler pipe going into a hose that is connected to the water pump.
The Surge Tank has been mounted and connected to the engine. 
As you can see, it looks close to what I have installed 
I got my 4.6 Liter Cadillac Northstar from Gary Zumalt.  I shipped my stretched cradle to his shop.  He mounted the engine and returned the cradle along with a box of wiring harnesses, hoses, computer, etc that I had no idea what went where.  I purchased a Cadillac service manual of the Internet and am working with a dealership to see if I can make all the necessary connections.  The engine fits like a glove.  It only took me about an hour to actually put it back in the car.  I also replaced all the bushing with polyurethane.  I also put new struts and 400 pound springs with new ball joints on the back
I would like to take a minute to talk about the friends that I have made in doing my build. The two pictures below are of two Northstar Fieros. The one on the left is owned by Jack Dieter and the one on the right is owned by John Norman. Both of these gentlemen have helped me in the technical questions in trying to get my Northstar to run. Both of these pictures are from the March Issue of Hot Rod magazine. Jack Dieter told me several months ago that his car was to be featured in this issue and that Hot Rod license plate was on his mantle just like an Oscar. Jack had a massive heart attack and died in his garage next to his Northstar Fiero the day before the March issue arrived. The point of this is that is important to let the people who help you know how much you appreciate their contributions.
I wanted to pass on a really good deal to all of you that need parts. Criswell Chevrolet will supply parts (any GM products) at a great discount and they pay the freight. I have been getting my part through them. Example my throttle body listed for $376.30 and I got it for $281.86, almost a $100 discount. It really helps to have the part number. 

Criswell Chevrolet
503 Quince Orchard Rd.
Gaithersburg, Md. 20878

Dealer phone 301-948-0880
Parts Dept. 888-466-9101
Parts Dept. Fax 301-670-0936
Parts Dept. direct 301-590-1458

Since this is a large operation, Chris asks that you first talk to Kevin Burdette in the parts dept. and identify yourself as a Fiero list member to get the "trade" price on any GM parts. If he is busy, or if you have any questions, you can ask for Chris. Parts prices will be the same he was able to offer through Galaxy, and yes, they will UPS at no charge for shipping, BUT, this dealership will charge all purchasers (any state) a 5% Maryland tax. Apparently there are enforceable intrastate mail order tax laws that Chriswell feels they must abide by to avoid any tax collection problems. To new list members, you can order any GM part at a discount that usually runs 20-30% off retail list. Chris has been excellent to work with in the past, and certainly can save you substantial $$$ on your Fiero parts needs.