Opti: MSD Vs Dynaspark
I went with MSD because back in August when I needed an opti, Dynaspark would not answer any of my questions and they were changing their product so people who had ordered them were waiting for MONTHS to get it. People will badmouth the MSD but I have had nothing but good things with it! Most who had their MSD opti go bad was due to installation error when they had the round O-ring. They now offer a square O-ring and that prevents it from rolling off the lip of the opti. Also no matter which route you go loctite your rotor!
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 313
Likes: 5
From: Eastern PA
+1 on the MSD... had to put a new opti on when I bought the car last May. 5,000+ miles and so far so good. The quality on the MSD unit is great. If you're not careful, the o-ring can unseat itself when installing, but other than that, its a solid piece.
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Well considering my car was eating a GM opti every 5-10K miles...I love my MSD. Haven't reached 10K on it yet- but I have passed the 5K mark. Then the car broke at the track a few months ago- I was cussing MSD- pulled it- it looked fine- other than the screw had backed out. I didn't read about loctiting them til after I installed it. Anyhow..they are loctited now- and I expect it to continue to work great. The problem turns out to be fuel related. That is my good bad and ugly of the MSD.
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Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 417
Likes: 1
From: Canada
my car has about ~105k miles (171km) and the stock unit just went after a busted heater core hose soaked ever thing down
p.s is there any aligment marks on the spline drive?? mine has a thin yellow line on it, dose this rep. any thing??
p.s is there any aligment marks on the spline drive?? mine has a thin yellow line on it, dose this rep. any thing??
Last edited by 94m6Z28; Mar 16, 2008 at 11:11 PM.
Obviously you can take this with a grain of salt since I am not knowledgeable and I fell to the commercialness of the MSD opti.
Anyway the MSD opti isn't even old enough for most people to even try to put 100k on it so how do you know it won't last that long? You are correct the Delco piece does last a long time but how can you even argue that the MSD isn't better? It is built with better components, solid billet housing, sealed bearing, built in harness, adjustable timing (for very advanced people!), extra bolt in cap to close it tighter, converts unvented opti to a vented type without having to buy all the extra GM pieces, and cost about the same as buying a Delco opti plus an MSD cap and rotor to convert it to vented. Most all those things help keep moisture out which is proven to kill any distributor! None the less a GM opti which is already in a bad place. Plus it can be revved way above the Delco which is known to fall apart above 6500 RPM's. Again not all of them do but ALOT do, just like ALOT have returned their MSD opti's.
Well the MSD has several advantages and thought was indeed a part of their design, however they fell just short on integrity There are a few small design flaws with them, but as mentioned they can be spun to the moon. Usually getting it to spin that far and still work is a trick.Some have remedied the problem utilizing loctite, while others couldn't get the probelm resolved. I am sure you are aware of the book of reviews posted here of the good the bad and the ugly.
Now for venting a non vented opti by just using a cap, thats just for piece of mind I guess because it will not convert the opti to a vented design. I see where it would keep the cap terminals cooler by virtue of airflow, but the inner housing where the mineral tracking takes place is where the true design of a vented opti is best used.
I guess this is another one of those debates that will never go away, but IMHO I think the MSD piece is just a fancy paperweight. I had a stock Delco on for 185k, rode hard driven wet, still worked. With that kind of reliability I can't forsee going to the MSD. I have installed two other units for my friends. One was an accel, it crapped and died inside of a week, he then switched to MSD and it was fine for about a month and he now runs a dynaspark and has for the past two years give or take a few months. The other was a Delco unit and he races his tests and tunes on wednesday, runs on saturday and has for over a year on that piece. He shifts at 6800 so........ IDK do your homework and find what you are comfortable with. Thats my advice
Now for venting a non vented opti by just using a cap, thats just for piece of mind I guess because it will not convert the opti to a vented design. I see where it would keep the cap terminals cooler by virtue of airflow, but the inner housing where the mineral tracking takes place is where the true design of a vented opti is best used.
I guess this is another one of those debates that will never go away, but IMHO I think the MSD piece is just a fancy paperweight. I had a stock Delco on for 185k, rode hard driven wet, still worked. With that kind of reliability I can't forsee going to the MSD. I have installed two other units for my friends. One was an accel, it crapped and died inside of a week, he then switched to MSD and it was fine for about a month and he now runs a dynaspark and has for the past two years give or take a few months. The other was a Delco unit and he races his tests and tunes on wednesday, runs on saturday and has for over a year on that piece. He shifts at 6800 so........ IDK do your homework and find what you are comfortable with. Thats my advice
^ I completely agree with you about researching and making a decision! Like I mentioned I went with the MSD because Dynaspark just wasn't doing anything for me with their revisions and not answering questions. At the time everyone was having trouble with their MSD unit it was still a very new product. I can understand that because the only way to see if there are any bugs left is to put it to the real world testing. I don't think any company can build a new product perfect their first time around.
^^^^^^^^ Thats what these boards are for my friend. They are for informed choices, discussion and product review. Some take it to heart, others like buying because its popular. You always have to know what your application is and what you need to suit it.
All in good fun of course! Gotta love the smileys. He (Caprice) is resilient in his ways for a reason my friend. It is all in perspective. I used to get riled quickly when I was younger.
His advice is cut and dry and he does have a ton of experience to pull from. You really have to undertand just how many young guns are on these boards that will give advice and pay to have it done by someone else and use that to verify their experience. I have not seen faulty advice from him yet, though I have respectfully disagreed here and there.
I have posted a few questions of my own as of late and I turned to him for advice. What I was seeking from him was a solid answer that wasn't rooted by popularity as I am definitely going agaisnt the grain. That being said it is the same here as anywhere else in the world, sometimes people just can't get along either too much alike or two much different.
Problem with the net is it is too easy to get the wrong advice. I LOVE Rob's site for reference at www.shbox.com. I am currently working on one myself that incorporates feedback, reliability, ease of installation, net gains and of course popularity. It has been in the works for 3 months now and I am nowhere near close. Just to help further someone's decision, like in this thread, which one is indeed the best. It is subjective at the very least, but as I stated with full reviews from all angles. Reading and doing your homework is always required
CHEERS!!!!
His advice is cut and dry and he does have a ton of experience to pull from. You really have to undertand just how many young guns are on these boards that will give advice and pay to have it done by someone else and use that to verify their experience. I have not seen faulty advice from him yet, though I have respectfully disagreed here and there.
I have posted a few questions of my own as of late and I turned to him for advice. What I was seeking from him was a solid answer that wasn't rooted by popularity as I am definitely going agaisnt the grain. That being said it is the same here as anywhere else in the world, sometimes people just can't get along either too much alike or two much different.
Problem with the net is it is too easy to get the wrong advice. I LOVE Rob's site for reference at www.shbox.com. I am currently working on one myself that incorporates feedback, reliability, ease of installation, net gains and of course popularity. It has been in the works for 3 months now and I am nowhere near close. Just to help further someone's decision, like in this thread, which one is indeed the best. It is subjective at the very least, but as I stated with full reviews from all angles. Reading and doing your homework is always required
CHEERS!!!!
I too have agreed with him on many occasions and know how his replies are meant. I have even taken his advice on more than one occasion. I take no offense from him at all! I just like to poke a little fun sometimes.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 313
Likes: 5
From: Eastern PA
The opti in my car crapped out at 47,000. Well below the 100K. 5,000 miles without issue is definitely not a joke. If it was junk, it would of failed by now...