I put in three OPTi sparks in 12,000 miles. The last one only lasted about 1000 miles. I did away with the optispark and put in a MSD ignition. It cost me a little bit but I plan on keeping the car and driving it. It is a 94 with only 92,000 miles on it. The car has run better now than it has ever run since I had it. OK, it may not be original now, but it is not going to leave me sitting on the side of the road again. I have been sitting on the side of the road. At least a half dozen times.  I could drive it and it would just shut off. Sometimes it would crank right back up. I could try to crank it every day for 2 weeks and it would not start. The next day I go out there it starts and runs fine. The next day I get in it, it turns over and doesn’t start. That’s why I went with the MSD ignition. Got rid of that problem.

Nice job , great photos 

Hi, My 93' let me down at 70 mph on the four lane in Kentucky. I live in Pennsylvania! You guessed it. Opti spark was done. Had it trailered back home. Once it was opened up,  Everything was replaced. Senders, hoses, wires, plugs, waterpump, coolant, belts. If it had to come off to fix it, I replaced it. Waterpump was leaking, and gaskets were bad. V.A.T.S was bypassed. Caused some angst as well. Runs good now, and starts with a bump of the starter.  A driver for a enjoyable ride. Glad your project is the same. 

Glad you were able to fix it and keep it running. Enjoy!

Did the things you replaced fix your crank/no start problem? I had that same problem. At times it would start immediately and other times it would crank but was totally dead. The cause of my problem was a partly broken wire in the VATS system! 

Ditch the opti-spark!!!! I put 3 on in less than 1500 miles. Found someone to replace it with a MSD ignition. Been driving it for 2 years now with no problems. The problem is the opti-spark is not vented and builds up condensation and corrodes. The MSD has a vacuum line running to it and keeps the condensation out of it. 

Put yourself a MSD distributor in. I put 3 opti-sparks in in a 1,000 mile period. All did the same thing, they would quit, not start, some start, etc. I found someone to put the MSD ignition system on mine and it has never run better. The problem is the Opti-spark Builds up condensation And corrodes. The MSD ignition has a vacuum line running to it that keeps the moisture pulled out. That did away with my problem. I’ve driven it 10,000 miles since I had that done with no problems.

Great! Mine is still, well in better weather, it's in Bed now till spring, running like a kitten on mother's milk. 

This thread was started back in November of 2009.  Nice to see folks are still benefiting from it even tho' LT1*C4 hasn't logged into the site in over 10 years.  Too bad photos without the watermark were not posted as they would have been easier to see what was going on.

Jim Olson

 
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