OMG, this is turning into a grudge match now. I simply wanted to show the damage that I had caused, nothing more. In my opinion, the hotter spark was a good culprit affecting a "not so sturdy" rotor. We can all agree that the optispark rotor could have been a little beefier. Maybe my choice of subject titles was wrong, my bad.

 

I have an accel opti spark 2. The rotor clearly appears to better made.

 

Me too.. And thats why i have my Delteq and took the rotor out..

 

There's no "grudge" involved at all..... you damned GM for a poor design, then admitted you ran your engine outside of design specs, using aftermarket parts. Your whole approach to the problem is flawed. People are just trying to point that out.

Just out of curiosity, how many miles on the Opti?

 

Ahhh good times...good times. How about adjusting and replacing points. LOL I love my opti compares to those things.

 

Doggone, right!

Hmmm...let's see...where did I put my dwell meter....

 

I agree with Shoebox. I dont mind the opti that much. The car has been through 2 in over 100,000 miles, but the trick is that I used GM parts. No remans, no Autozone garbage, GM ACDELCO Optisparks. I never have to screw with the opti, just put it on and drive, then when it fails, replace.

-Dustin-

 

The opti was the stock unit with less than 100,000. The cap and rotor were fairly new with less than 10,000. The car is rarely driven. Again, I probably used the wrong title, but it sounded good at the time. This is a result of what happens when want to go fast.

 

i also think the opti isnt as bad as most say, and after you've done it a time or two an opti exchange can be done in next to no time. my stock opti lasted around 180,000 miles and had gotten wet countless times.

 

I have to agree. The optispark is often blamed for a problem that can be repared simply by replacing the distributor cap and rotor. Some go the full length and replace the entire unit unnecessarily.

The problem posted is clearly an unusual one. It could have been caused by anything, and since it hasn't happened here before it likely is an anomaly.

 

I do think it makes for a very clean setup but I still think it could have been done a little more sturdier. But, I also understand that GM has to abide by the economics of mass production.

 

i see nothing wrong. just put it back on and forget it.

 

After my 1st opti, I had the same rotor crash (20K miles), I purchased a 2nd gm unit from Summit. It lasted 1 month. Took it off, and sure enough, it made noise, so, Summit gave me my money back. I looked @ Deltec, and, I could not jutify trashing all that extra MSD stuff I was using. So, I purchased another gm opti. This time I voided the warrantee, and, inserted my own rivets in place of those wimpy sonic welded plastice rotor contacts. It's working, or, I have luck. I've pulled 7K shifts with all that MSD 6A and 8202 coil. I agree, opti was not designed for MSD large spark energy. Also, I don't believe in the gm filtered vent tube (not enough internal opti air flow). I run an open tube now. I've had some luck for now. (97 LT1).

 

Expand on this a little bit. Open tube? Meaning you don't have anything connected to the air intake side of the opti?

 

Yes, I'm running an ATI-D1, and, I have this theory that these opti's get hot inside due to lack of air flow (and the added spark energy - MSD). Those stock filters are quite restrictive. So, now I run an open tube (vent). The suction side is run close to the D1 air intake. I don't have any data to support this open vent theory, except it's running good. I had to route the vent tube to a dry place due to potential problems with water. But, I try not to drive the car in wet weather due to lack of traction. Very dangerous with those 315-35-17 BFG KD's.