Hey all,
Working on installing a new Opti, waterpump and MSD 8.5 wires on my 94 Z. Are there any particular tricks of gotchas that I need to be aware of?

On a side note...failure analysis of original Opti showed a failed gasket between the cap and base. 1/8 inch gap because gasket dried out and craked! Has anyone ever tried silicone on the edge of the Opti to help seal the pieces together?

Thanks,
Chad-

 

I siliconed my replacement opti on my '94, it worked great. Silicone all around the edge and don't worry about water anymore

On a '94 it will appear that the spline will only go into the cam one way, because it has a key. While this is true in theory, it isn't in practice. I incorrectly indexed mine 3 times before I got it right. And it WILL destroy the bearing or spline in the back if it's indexed wrong. Again, I know from experience.

Here's how I finally did it:

1. I visually lined up the key on the cam with the spline on the back of the opti before putting it into place. This way I had a good chance of it just sliding right in.

2. I set the opti into place with the cap unscrewed, but in place (if you don't do it this way, you can't fit it in after, so both pieces have to go in there together), so that I could turn the rotor (and thus the spline in the back) with my finger.

3. I moved the rotor side to side (no more than an inch or so) until it slid VERY easily into place. Because I had lined the keys up before hand, I knew it was correct this time.

4. Screwed on the cap, pluged in the coil and PCM wires, and started the car to confirm it was indexed properly.

It is EXTREMELY easy to improperly index the optispark, unless you do it how I suggest. I've now done 4 optisparks after my own with this method, each time I got it right on the first try. If you have to force it AT ALL you're most likely not doing it right. It should slide in rather easily. Maybe a light tap at the most will be necessary.

If you've mis-indexed it, the car will run funny, sound funny, misfire and won't respond much to throttle input.

Also, make sure to hook up the wires and the coil and start the car before you put anything back together. That way if it's indexed wrong, you don't have to pull off the brackets/water pump/smog pump/crank pulley/etc again. I know that from experience too

Make sure to torque the rotor properly (about 8 inch pounds) and make sure to get a new cap and rotor when you do this. Not worth it to reuse parts on this job. Don't want to do it again.

It's not really that difficult of a job, just take your time and do it right. Good luck!

 

one other hint that i can give you is to take a paint crayon/pen and get the splined key indexed into the block correctly and then mark the top side of the splined shaft from splines to splines.
then afther the paint dries install the splined shaft into the opti and turn the shaft untill the white line of paint is on top.

this will give you a very close estimate of where the opti splines need to be in relation to the splines in the block.

reinstall the keyed shaft into the block being careful not to turn it as it is removed from the opti. and slide the opti on.

or just leave it in the opti and slide it into the block.

 

wow guys great tips on installing the opti... mine just had a brand new one when I bought it, but I'm printing these tips.

on the wires, I posted a few comments on my experience in this thread (page 6)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4476630

 

Excellent tips everyone. I'm still waiting for UPS to deliver my new Opti so since everything is already diassembled, all I can do right now is maybe change some plugs or sit in the drivers seat and make motor/burnout noises and drink some beers.

I'll let everyone know how the reassembly goes.

Chad-