I'm reaching out to the Northstar gurus in this community:

I'm working with Rodney Dickman on ordering his strut kit for the rear deck lid on my '87 GT.

I am swapping in a Northstar, but don't have it in yet. I don't know for sure how much room there will be on the passenger side.

To anyone with a N* swap, what's been your experience? How much space is there from the "front" of the motor to the passenger side deck lid / shock tower area? Would his kit have enough room?

Were you able to leave the stock torsion springs to the deck lid in place?

I also have a rear lip spoiler from Sage and a mustang hood vent I plan on adding to the rear deck.

Any guesses as to how much more weight that might add to it?

Rodney is trying to figure out how big the struts should or need to be, with these details.

Thanks in advance,
B

Torsion springs have to come out, because you have to chop the bottom corner off the right decklid hinge box in order to clear the forward Northstar cam cover.

I have dual decklid struts with a Northstar and there's no interference on my swap. I am using a Getrag transmission with stock-type mounts and brackets. The crankshaft centerline is very close to the stock engine's crankshaft centerline location.

The struts tuck in along the sides of the decklid and do not hang down much, if any at all, below the bottom of the decklid structure. If you keep the engine below that structure, you should not have any problems. The only potential issue is the Northstar power steering pump and reservoir, specifically the reservoir cap. I never had a power steering pump on mine, so I can't tell you if there's any interference. From the photos I've seen from people who kept the pump, it just barely clears the bottom of the decklid.

quote Originally posted by Will: Torsion springs have to come out, because you have to chop the bottom corner off the right decklid hinge box in order to clear the forward Northstar cam cover. I have dual decklid struts with a Northstar and there's no interference on my swap. I am using a Getrag transmission with stock-type mounts and brackets. The crankshaft centerline is very close to the stock engine's crankshaft centerline location. The struts tuck in along the sides of the decklid and do not hang down much, if any at all, below the bottom of the decklid structure. If you keep the engine below that structure, you should not have any problems. The only potential issue is the Northstar power steering pump and reservoir, specifically the reservoir cap. I never had a power steering pump on mine, so I can't tell you if there's any interference. From the photos I've seen from people who kept the pump, it just barely clears the bottom of the decklid.

Thanks for this, Will!