DIY LTCC or similar system for LT1s

[spfautsch]

Couple questions arise, please humor me as I'm terribly unfamiliar with the Northstar system.

1) what would be the advantage(s) of using the Northstar ICM (and I'm assuming the "old" gm waste spark coil setup that bolted directly to the ICM)?

2) is there any reason other than lack of programming expertise, that the arduino couldn't do your minimalist version (my personal preference)? Assuming we're letting the ECM control timing and only need to sequence which FET is enabled next, the code for something like this should be fairly minimalist.

This idea has completely piqued my interest. I'm going to be pulling my freshly built LT1 out this winter to fix an oil leak and possibly fit EGT sensors on my headers. I might be willing to serve as a volunteer guinea pig for your minimalist rendition. My only concern is coil selection - the size of the LT1 / 2nd gen HEI coil pack (x8) is going to require some creativity for mounting and secondary wire routing in a factory LT1 install environment.