i just bought a 2000 Malibu that was first sold in Canada so the instrument cluster is all metric. can i put a u.s. cluster in it or is the wiring different on the clusters? is there anything else i would have to change to make it work correct?

Yes the cluster can be changed out for a US one, I don't think anything else needs to be done but someone with a little more knowledge is on another site who should be able to give more insight, he goes by lvemy3100 on www.unitedmalibus.com .