Well more to the story...the catch can was not filled...where did the oil come from? Likely source was a failed front main seal...but why did it fail. Possibly the crankcase is pressurizing excessively and rolled the seal out - allowing oil to exit the engine and spread via the rotating balancer.
So begins the removal...takes me hours to do this stuff, but finally the mega bolt is off:
And the balancer has vacated the position:
Old front main seal...looks a ok! Hmmm. Then I notice a wiring harness pass thru that is dislodged (oil pump has two settings - this wire controls that). Could this be the issue? It doesn't fit snugly in the hole and it was dangling...surprised to see the volume oil though. Nonetheless, we will apply a bit of RTV to further snug it in (I recall installing a new assembly with this new shortblock). Hopefully it didn't receive a push due to excess crankcase pressure...this would be an assembly error.
For safety's sake, I did purchase a leak down tester and will give that a shot - supposedly the best indicator of the health of the engine...
Crossing my fingers...