After some trial and error i found that the following resolved most of the problems i was expeiencing
#Shutdown and restart instance in upgrade mode.
Shutdown immediate;
Startup upgrade;
#now invalidate the existing packages
@$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utlirp.sql
#As i have already patched the system to DST V10 i needed to do the following
@$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utlu111i.sql
#now i started to convert/upgrade the database, i started with the upgrade catalog
# as it resolve a lot of issues i experienced.
@$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catupgrd.sql
#Then the more standard catalog procs were applied.
@$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catalog.sql
@$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catproc.sql
#Finally, get all of the procs recompiled.
@$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utlrp.sql
shutdown immediate;
startup;
#then check for any outstanding issues
select * from sys_objects where Status != 'VALID';
Now i did have a few invalid objects but these are application specific and fairly easy to resolve.
I haven't experienced any more issues with the conversion. However, if there are any ommissions or other issues with this approach i will be glad to hear about it.