madball

iTrader: (2)

Recieved optispark from partspros today (partsladi distributor). Took only two days like they said. Highly recommend these guys to anybody needing one. I figured out one of the vents was not hooked on the old one and it was full of crud/corrosion/rust. I am actually surprised that it ran at all after taking it apart. The rotor screws were also pretty lose.

Jcl_96TA

iTrader: (1)

Ebay just sent me a PM about thepartsladi, fishing around to see if i got my opti or not. And asking if i would recommend her to a friend or college. Haha i was one of the lucky few that actually got mine, but i am not about to give her any high marks for that.

$750 L98

iTrader: (7)

I bought the same Opti, they are aftermarket, made in china. It has been working for over 6k+ miles now though with no gripes. I did prep it before install though, RTV thread locker, etc.

Believe it or not that $70 dollar opti sold by chandler motor sports is made by the same people that manufacture the MSD units. Yes it's true, they are manufactured over seas, then assembled here and called "Made in America".

I documented that over on the corvette forum, people seem so afraid to try out another product. FWIW the aftermarket Chinese piece is significantly "beefier" than the OEM Delco unit.

IMHO I just don't think that 13+ year old optical distributors should be costing this much, garage door sensors are more advanced at this point. I know I'll get flamed for this post for putting a $70 opti on a Corvette, but it's running strong so far. Not to mention it's not that hard of a job to pull an Opti off the C4 Corvettes, YMMV with the F-bod.

If you want the link to the thread or the ebay link just PM me. You could buy 3-4 Opti for the same price and have plenty of back up/experiment units lol

SoxXpupPeT

iTrader: (34)

if it wasnt such a headach having to pull everything off to get to it then id be down for trying a $70 unit... for that price wth ya know ? worth a shot

$750 L98

iTrader: (7)

I hear that, just seems like people are always complaining about getting "new" optis that are dead, or don't last more than 1k miles. I went cheap the first time around and had no issues. Kinda makes me think it's the mechanic and not the hardware really, besides it's made by the same company that produces MSD units.

I was honestly ready to get rid of my LT1 car when my stock opti went out, but then I found out it's not that bad a job lol. Certainly not the best place for a dizzy, but it gave me a reason to do thermo/WP/coolant flush while I was at it.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Ironic little piece of info, the thing that killed the original opti was the valve cover breather line that enters the passenger side of the TB. It was leaking oil like no tomorrow and drenched the opti causing its demise. I installed a brand new water pump during the opti install as good measure. I figured for $100 it was good insurance. And I fixed the oil leak of course.

94Z28rag

iTrader: (10)

Has anyone else noticed that "thepartspros" doesn't exist anymore either?

Gojira94

iTrader: (4)

How about $250.00 for a 92-94, $295.00 for a 94-97?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-93...Q5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...Q5fAccessories

"buyitnowmakeityours"

Look at the items they were selling before they started selling parts... WTF?

I was also intrigued by this one from "gr8hotrods" & probably will buy one even though I just installed a new Delphi:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-93...item45f2e3190b

Looking up what an Allen Synchrograph is:

"We unbox, modify, rebuild and test every single unit ourselves on our Allen Synchrograph to make sure you get a 100% working distributor with no issues, ready to drop-in and run."

97RAMAIRTA

iTrader: (15)

Im going to use one from ALL Ignition on my 355/383 which ever route i go. Vented for $130 or non-vented for $160. They sell them on Ebay or the have a non Ebay site as well. They have an upgraded optical encoder supposed to be good for 8000 rpm and have a lifetime warranty. Even comes with a new opti harness. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. At least wortha a try IMHO.

Links:
http://all-ignition.com/95-lt1.html

http://all-ignition.com/chevrolet/1994.html

ebay store: http://stores.ebay.com/AIParts

BTC

There is a lot of negative feedback regarding all_ignition. Search here, and on other LT1 forums.

97RAMAIRTA

iTrader: (15)

Hey thanks for the heads up. Ill do some search...never search bc the treads i've looked in never mention them.


EDIT: I did some looking around and yes there are quite a few bad reviews. Although the ones that are being sold now aren't advertised as being OEM and are supposedly a new 2010 series

Just stating this as an FYI. Not voting for or against.

Bow94z

iTrader: (3)

What about the Opti's from Easy4auto on ebay? seems like they have good feedback for the price

nj85z28

iTrader: (6)

oh good..the partsladi was TERRBILE..

I bought and paid for a set of bilstein shocks..it took MONTHS to get them..and that was with repeated phone calls several times a day towards the end there..i would never buy from them again for any reason anyway. good riddance.

hilpala ss

iTrader: (2)

I'm a memeber on another forum and there's a guy who get's the opti unit custom made for $189 shipped. The units use the same Mitsubishi optical sensor as Delco or Delphi and the units have quite a few folks who've tested them with success. They locktite the cap & rotor screw to help prevent detonation failure. PM and I can give you his email address for further info. (I'm new in terms of posts to this forum but have been active on numerous boards for years, not a spammer or scammer)

Hil

94Z28rag

iTrader: (10)

I've decided not to screw around with any of this eBay stuff. Not worth the risk to save a few bucks. Ordering a Genuine GM unit from Summit and calling it a day.

Speedy

Problem is, it's those so-called "genuine" GM units that have been failing lately.

Bow94z

iTrader: (3)

Yea i agree, They are no better. i bought GM and been replacing them every year it seems like

tricked94camaro

iTrader: (1)

i never had a problem with buying from ebay but im being cautious now when it comes to optis for less than 100 on ebay. any advice against those??

Cheap Guy

iTrader: (3)

Basically any opti you buy - GM or otherwise - is a crap shoot. I bought one off eBay from All-Ignition and it only lasted 300 miles. It was replaced (professionally) with a GM unit which was lasted about 3k miles until I stupidly ran it through a car wash and the guy blasted the front end with a high pressure hose = dead opti. That one was replaced with another GM unit and it's lasting so far, but if it's raining hard, it's stutters/stumbles (SES comes on) until it dries out.

It's a shame because the more I learn about the LT-1, the more it seems that it's a pretty good motor but the opti is what gives it bad reputation. I'm saving up for the LTCC (which still needs a working opti) and if that doesn't work, I'm going with the expensive EFI Connection package which totally eliminates the opti. The sad thing is if I had known about the EFI connection a few years ago, I'd have bought it and actually would have SAVE money in the long run.