Waterproofing an Opti
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Launching!
Joined: Apr 2008
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Waterproofing an Opti I'm in the midst of my second Opti-swap in as many years, and I gotta say, I HATE doing this job. I'd be happy if I never had to replace another opti for the rest of my life!
I'm thinking (since the opti gets a coolant bath every warm day) I need to waterproof this thing... Fresh air tubes or not, these things get wet, and fail. I'm thinking of just running a bead of liquid gasket around the opti where the cap meets the core. Essentially trying to make it as waterproof as possible.
Anyone had success doing this before? any tips or suggestions for prolonging the life of these failure-prone distributors?
I'm thinking (since the opti gets a coolant bath every warm day) I need to waterproof this thing... Fresh air tubes or not, these things get wet, and fail. I'm thinking of just running a bead of liquid gasket around the opti where the cap meets the core. Essentially trying to make it as waterproof as possible.
Anyone had success doing this before? any tips or suggestions for prolonging the life of these failure-prone distributors?
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Launching!
Joined: Apr 2008
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I was exaggerating when I said it gets a coolant bath every warm day, but nevertheless, it does get wet occasionally. Not sopping wet or anything, but on hot days it seems as though I can't avoid running hot, and having some coolant escape.
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I rebuilt my opti with black RTV to seal the outer and inner caps to the core, as well as a light bead around the rubber seal in base of the rotor where the shaft sits. Also converted it to a vented style. Since then, I have washed my motor plenty of times and driven in pouring rain too, without any problems at all. I'd the dang thing is pretty much water proof now 
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i also put some of the blue rtv gasket sealer on the backside of my distributor when i reinstalled it... didn't have the best of luck getting it to run because its out of timing, but i do know that it made a great seal because we let it dry and then pulled it off and it was basically glued to the front of the motor... and if im not mistaken, in the msd cap and rotor install guide deal that came with my cap and rotor, i think it says to run a bead of gasket sealer on the backside... dont quote me on that, but i know i read it somewhere
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From: FLORIDA
It should not get wet with coolant at all. You must have a leak somewhere in the cooling system, if you fix your cooling problem the opti will never get wet. It is not normal for the opti to be getting wet with coolant even occasionally. Putting sealant on the opti is not fixing the problem you have with your engine running hot.
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
My friend did that too, but he hasn't had time to complete his Vette due to working on so many customer cars. If I ever have to do a cap, I might manually convert it to vented, instead of having to buy an MSD cap or do the full conversion. If that's a bad idea, I'll at least seal it.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Apr 2008
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It should not get wet with coolant at all. You must have a leak somewhere in the cooling system, if you fix your cooling problem the opti will never get wet. It is not normal for the opti to be getting wet with coolant even occasionally. Putting sealant on the opti is not fixing the problem you have with your engine running hot.
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
While it's out, tap out the weep hole on the water pump, and then put in a small barbed fitting, (1/8" MIGHT fit, but might be too big so you'd have to drill a bigger hole) and then run some rubber hose off it to divert it when/if the bearing/seal goes.
Then waterproofing your opti is not the problem you should be addressing.
The weep hole on the waterpump is there for a purpose. If you notice coolant dripping there consistently, it's time for new waterpump. No coolant should be leaking anywhere regardless, even on hot days.
Teching In
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From: Baileyton, AL
do any of you guys that've recently replaced your Opti have pics / links to your RTV artwork?...getting ready to have a go at it by myself for the first time & would love as much longevity out of it as much as anyone...
My early production run Dynaspark was completely sealed with RTV (I bought it something like 5 years ago). Still working fine. If I were putting an opti together today, I'd seal it with RTV. 
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From: LT1 land...the "409" of the 90s!
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I have sealed them not sealed them, tryied this and that, threw them across the yard,
On The Tree
Joined: May 2005
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From: Catawissa PA
I tapped the weep hole in the WP and ran a small tube from the WP down away from the opti, so should it fail the coolant will run onto the ground not the opti.
Years back (around 95) I purchased a kit from a company called MidAmerica (specialize in Vettes) make a vent kit for the opti, it was basically a T-fitting, and vacuum line, and a small tube of RTV to seal the bottom of the opti then pull any moisture out. If you look at the none vented optis there are 3 holes in the bottom that can allow water/moister in so you need to address them as well.
JB
Years back (around 95) I purchased a kit from a company called MidAmerica (specialize in Vettes) make a vent kit for the opti, it was basically a T-fitting, and vacuum line, and a small tube of RTV to seal the bottom of the opti then pull any moisture out. If you look at the none vented optis there are 3 holes in the bottom that can allow water/moister in so you need to address them as well.
JB
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)