3800 to northstar swap on 95 se

[soundman9826]

so ever sense i bought my 95 se i was thinking of how to increase power and i came up with the crazy idea of putting a northstar from a Cadillac in it. i would like to turbo it some day and want to make sure its ready for it, also i am unsure what year i should go with . some people said i should go with the older ones as they have forged internals, but i don't know what year that is. my biggest hurdle for me is keeping the instrument cluster stock looking, i would like to stay looking stock so no one knows it has a northstar under the hood until i step on it. is there a way to make the northstar work with the instrument cluster or will i have to replace it with something else? and what about the accessories, will the accessories on a 95 se fit a northstar or will i have to change then (power steering, a/c, ext)? any other advise/tips for doing this would be greatly appreciated. hopfuly this was the right place to post this.

before I even put it in the car I plan on putting the bulletproof kit on it from Northstar performance, which is suregrip head stud kit, main stud kit, and mps head gaskets. And also having the rest of it looked at to see what needs to be replaced/fixed.

[CMNTMXR57]

Save your money and time for what little gain you will get out of it. Just dump the 95 and get an actual 2004 - 2005 GXP if you want a N* in a Bonneville. We have enough problems with them in the platform designed and manufactured by GM, much less opening up pandora's box of troubles, stuffing it into a platform that wasn't designed for it from the get go, trying to re-engineer things.

[Ghosthawk]

Save your money and time for what little gain you will get out of it. Just dump the 95 and get an actual 2004 - 2005 GXP if you want a N* in a Bonneville. We have enough problems with them in the platform designed and manufactured by GM, much less opening up pandora's box of troubles, stuffing it into a platform that wasn't designed for it from the get go, trying to re-engineer things.

Listen closely to this man...he knows from where he speaks.

I would add that you can build a later version of the supercharged 3800 and easily equal the power of the stock Northstar.
I went through this mental wrestling match myself a few months ago and reason won out with a 3800 car.

I completely understand the appeal of the Northstar power. The sound they generate alone is magnificent, but they are an insanely complex piece of engineering.

I'm sure I'm misquoting CMNTMXR57 at this point, but this one piece of advice never left me..."The Northstar Bonneville is a size 10 woman in a size 5 dress. It looks great, it sounds great, but its ready to explode at any given moment."

Upon further research, I found that applies to far more than a blown head gasket.

[CMNTMXR57]

You nailed it man. Size 10 engine in a size 5 dress...