07 STS w/ Northstar - any upgrades?

I just picked up one of these to beat around in.

Any idea of anything that would be a worthwhile bolt on engine upgrade?

Not really any Northstar bolt ons that I'm aware of.

The STS-V had a supercharged Northstar, don't know how easy it would be to source parts for that.

Just set money aside for another beater to drive when something fails and needs replaced. They're a pain to work on

Being an 07, it at least has the latest head bolt and head gasket redesign so it should be less prone to head gasket failure.

They sound pretty good with just about any chambered muffler

In reply to flatlander937:

I heard northstars were junk, leak oil, I didn't know there was a change in the design

plance1 wrote: In reply to flatlander937: I heard northstars were junk, leak oil, I didn't know there was a change in the design

In general... I'd agree. But 2004 or 2005+ are statistically less-awful. Failures still happen, and they get misdiagnosed commonly, and they're a royal pain to work on. I wouldn't buy one intentionally, but for the right deal I'd roll the dice if its 100% clean and kept up.

Here's a link of year to year differences:

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/northstar-engines-system-technical-discussion/199946-northstar-swaps-what-years-interchangeable-differences.html

The 2004 head bolt redesign is the important change. Early 2000s had a change to the heads/gaskets that made them a lot better than the 90s stuff, but they blow head gaskets from the bolts stretching or pulling out of the head when overheated.

I don't have TONS of teardown experience with them, but any odd jobs on them absolutely suck because of how much crap is packaged in the engine bay.

Heavily boosted Northstar-based engines are a popular choice for landspeed cars. I don't think they use much of the stock engine apart from the block though...

Sorry for the absence, got busy and forgot to check back, oops. lol

I didn't have much hope for parts or upgrades, but thought if anyone had creative solutions it's this group. A little better sounding muffler would be nice. Have to fab up something as I didn't find anything other than the Corsa and that out of the range for this car.

Don't think the car will stick around to long, probably will sell it this fall when people are looking for winter AWD cars. It was an impulse buy and after the fact I found out I can't do a roof rack and my dogs slide all over the seats.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Not really any Northstar bolt ons that I'm aware of. The STS-V had a supercharged Northstar, don't know how easy it would be to source parts for that.

Those were the de-stroked 4.4 motors. Not a lot of shared parts there.

in the RWD STS the motor should point the right way and make service easier. (not easy, just better than the FWD)

Just for E36 M3s and giggles, pull the air filter out and leave the box open or ajar. Go do a couple of WOT runs and be amazed that a Cadillac can sound that good.