GENERAL MOTORS HEMI ENGINE
General Motors Hemi engine you say??? NO ?!?! YES I say!!! I have been playing with GMs’ hemi engine for 10 years now and can’t believe how few motor heads are even aware of it. It is their 283 cu. in double overhead cam NORTHSTAR engine. They are a natural for Fiero cars (bolt right up to the stock Fiero transmission) & Chevys S10 pick-up and actually any other GM vehicle with the 1986 & up hydromatic trans. I first encountered this amazing fact trying to put a V8 in my ‘85 S-10 4 WD pick-up. Everyone else were going with trans adapters or total engine/trans swaps. I had already pulled the 2.8 V6 out of my S 10 4 WD and was on the verge of removing the transfer case so I could throw in a full size Blazer set up when I noticed the bolt pattern on the back of my ‘86 De Ville 4.1 engine. I had removed it to put a new crank & bearings in it. It took only seconds to confirm they had the same bolt pattern!!! I was a little sceptical that it would be that easy, but after a lot of changing parts around(first time) it went together. I put an aluminum plate on the intake for the carb, fabricated an oil pan and a home made set of headers. I ended up with a Caddy 4.1 V8 in my S10 4 WD!! I used the 4.1 engine, starter & flywheel, and the S10 400 trans/torque converter & it worked. There was 1 open bolt hole & I never worried about it. Two years later I was looking for something to put into one of my T buckets when a customer brought in his Caddy STS with a cracked block & another one for me to install for him. I noticed right away the bolt pattern for the trans was the exact same as the 4.1. After scouting around the parts trailer I found what I needed. An early 80s’ 400 trans from a 2 WD 2.8 V6 truck. Needles to say it matched up, less the 1 bolt. The big difference here was the Northstar has the starter under the intake manifold. So again I used the Caddy starter/flywheel set up and I now have a ‘25 T bucket with a GM DOHC 4.6 engine and believe it or not a lot of free beer from betting all those nay sayers who should have thought about it first. I didn’t have a computer or wiring harness so I made up a bracket to mount a regular short shaft dist from an early Pontiac 326 cu in., it’s driven 2 to 1 off the crank (two flywheel revolutions to one distributer revolution) & just used a home made intake manifold (wood at first) & a 500 cfm holley 2 barrel carb. Later on a friend built me a sheet metal one. You have to use an electric water pump and make up a few pieces to hook the water hoses up for cooling and it’s done. If you check the internet there are several places that make all kinds of parts and pieces for the Northstar. It’s pricey but you can always do it home style like me and save your $$$ Hoping this gives you an insight into the GM HEMI Happy Rodding Bowtie 488