Lol... I can build a dry sump no matter what... it's just time and money (Well... and packaging)
Dammit, now I've been thinking about the block issue... Using my current block is a known path, but expensive because of the pistons & rings requirements.
Common expenses:
Bore honing
Head gaskets
Block anti-corrosion surface treatments
Differentiating expenses, Current:
Pistons
Coatings
Rings
Differentiating expenses, New:
Block
Time-Sert installation & misc machine work
Porting bay-to-bay breathing windows
Line-honing (depending on what lower crank case I use)
Gas porting current pistons
LS coils & wires
58x Controller & harness build (buy a Caddy harness, maybe even buy another Fiero harness and MAKE a new engine harness; also DBW throttle conversion)
Here are some good photos of a 58x block:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/253398560507
The Northstar block was always die cast, except for the supercharged engines.
Looking through the pics of that auction, and being familiar with Northstars, I can see that GM did not modify the dies that form the left and right outboard faces of the block and probably not the timing drive compartment or bellhousing face either. Modifying dies basically means making new dies, and that is expensive. They just omitted some machining operations to existing bosses on the current castings, actually saving money on those operations. The block drain bosses are there, the early crank sensor boss is there. There's a bolt boss that my intermediate shaft bracket attaches to that is not drilled, but that can be drilled.
However, they had to make a new valley die in order to add the crank sensor boss, so they also added some extra stiffening ribs. These are probably mostly for noise reduction or analytical reasons. I like block stiffness improvements, even if they're not "necessary" to make the power.
The lower crank case has always been a sand casting, and thus much easier to modify/update than the die casting.
The photos from the auction above show that GM ditched the lower crank sensor boss from the lower crank case, as well as updating the casting for a three bolt mounting for the oil filter adapter.
Also, the pan on this engine does *NOT* have the boss of the oil level sensor machined. Weird. I thought that would be standard Cadillac fare by now.
However, this auction shows the lower crank sensor boss still on the lower crank case, but also the 3 bolt oil filter mount; AND the block has the boss for my intermediate shaft bracket drilled, as well as the oil level sensor in the side of the pan:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/333371327872
Weird. Should I go ahead and snag a 3 bolt filter adapter with oil cooler connections? Those are a bit rare.
Of course if I could find a Supercharged Northstar crankshaft, that would kind of cement the deal, because then I'd have a fully forged bottom end, j0!