I would like to go with Delteq instead for the price, but I'm not sure if my occasional high-rpm miss/hesitation is due to bad contacts or optical sensor. I wouldnt want to spend the money for a Delteq just to have to end up buying a new opti anyways.

 

The cap and rotor never fail? Where did you get this?
The cap and rotor are failure prone, just like any SBC cap and rotor, they work in the same way as the old style distributors. And they need replaced periodically, just like the old style distributors. The location of the optispark prohibits regular maintenance and I believe this alone is reason for most optispark failures. The bearing is a sore spot as well though.

The optical portion of the Optispark has proven very reliable, its the bearing and the cap and rotor that get beat up. Thats what a delteq does is take away the spark distribution from the opti. You still have the optical portion as your pickup.
(unless I am missing something)

MSD looks to be making a stout piece (about time, we asked for this years ago) by beefing up the bearing and the cap and rotor MSD is building a piece that will survive not being maintained as much as it should be.

 

This has not been my experience and it is what bothers me about the Deltech unit. I don't believe the optical sensor is reliable. In both of my failures, I was missing the hi-res signal. I believe either the optical sensor failed or residue from a failing bearing interfered with the sensor. The Deltech system still relies on these two unreliable (IMO) components.

I think we are talking shades of gray here because what you said about the rotor and cap needing maintenance is also true. I guess if the Deltech eliminates half of the weak points, it is still an improvement. I just hope the MSD unit addresses my problems of failure prone bearing and optical unit.

 

No results yet???

 

My '95 style only failure has been a carbon tracked cap.

It would be interesting to know how many "vented" ('95 and later) Opti-Sparks have failed because of the low or high-res pulses.
I don't think the early units had the same bearing the vented unit has -- can anyone confirm that?

Tom Piper

 

Price is supposedly going to be $499

 

$499 is a better price than buying a new opti and then buying the MSD cap and rotor and then messing with swapping them. my only problem with ordering these is that they are expensive (especially the new MSD opti unit) compared to the OEM ($221 for a new Delco opti from Dal) and have yet to be proven that they provide better HP or last longer.

 

Hmmm... I wonder if MSD would ever offer their optical unit for sale individually to be used with the Delteq

 

i agree

 

Everything is all nice and dandy about the New MSD opti but Whats the WARRANTY?!

 

I wouldn't be too set on that price. MSD hasn't posted one yet, so it could be lower or higher than that. Although if it is $500 USD then I'm going to stick with a stock replacement

 

hell...my 140k original opti still helps me run 13's with a cai...but there isnt a new one sitting in my garage for no reason lol

 

mines been in for bout a month now and it doesnt feel much different from stock, it's more of a piece of mind part for me because even though its a gm design it has more quality into it and can take more of a pounding. i paid $170canadian for mine so not not to far off states prices.

 

I thought Canadian currency is more than US currency? Or is it the other way around?

 

stock caps and rotors do fail. I melted the last rotor, and this one seems to be doing the same. The MSD rotor materials look a lot better and will have a lot less resistance (less heat buildup).