A better Opti?

I noticed there are a few aftermarket upgrades for the Optispark.
Accel and MSD being the two big ones I saw... do these units resolve the problematic Optispark issues or no?

chapel wrote:

I noticed there are a few aftermarket upgrades for the Optispark.
Accel and MSD being the two big ones I saw... do these units resolve the problematic Optispark issues or no?

The opti spark is an interesting debate,. there are those that have you believe the opti is the root of all evil,.and will die at the first sign of glycol,. yet with a proper functioning vent line,. and clean connectors,. the opti works just fine,.
often the opti is misdiagnosed as the problem and is changed along with the real culprits ..spark plug wires. A good upgrade is to change the coil itself and use an aftermarket msd one.
jmo

Nick

phantom 309 wrote:

chapel wrote:

I noticed there are a few aftermarket upgrades for the Optispark.
Accel and MSD being the two big ones I saw... do these units resolve the problematic Optispark issues or no?

The opti spark is an interesting debate,. there are those that have you believe the opti is the root of all evil,.and will die at the first sign of glycol,. yet with a proper functioning vent line,. and clean connectors,. the opti works just fine,.
often the opti is misdiagnosed as the problem and is changed along with the real culprits ..spark plug wires. A good upgrade is to change the coil itself and use an aftermarket msd one.
jmo

Nick

I agree 100%

So, is there any particular reason to use an aftermarket Opti? Does the extra price pay for any real benefit?

otherwise, you think a stock-type Opti (any aftermarket brands to avoid?) properly installed with a good coil and good wires will do it?

If it works, it works. Take it apart and loctite the two rotor screws, then make sure the contacts are clean, the 4-pin harness connectors are tight, and the whole thing holds a little vacuum and you're all set. Spend good money on plug wires like Nick said. I wrap all of my LT1 plug wires in plastic loom to keep them from touching each other or anything else and that seems to work fine.

Otherwise, what Nick said.

There are drag-racers on the Impala forum which have run non-ACDelco regular optis to 7200rpm no problems. That's good enough for me.

I run the MSD on my Impala just because I got a great deal on it. The housing is billet aluminum which is impressive, but Joel and Nick are both correct.