Ok, I think I'm an idiot-
To get things started this on a 94 lt1, so the opti is non-vented and I'm using the msd unit for replacement. I took off the old opti and aparently someone thought it would be funny to turn the crank pulley after it was removed. How much touble am I in? Do I have to have #1 tdc when installing the new opti? If so can I do this without removing the timing chain cover? By the way, the crank hub was never removed, so is there a way to reference #1 tdc by the hub instead? Or is it possible to do this by the keyed position on the drive piece that slips into the back of the opti? I'm not real familiar with this, obviously, so I want to make sure it's going to be firing in the right order. What is the best way to go about this? I will probably be putting it back together on thursday, so pleeeaase help me out.

 

just install the opti the way it should be, not sure about 94 but i know the 95 opti's have a pin that you line up. as long as you line the pin up it doesn't matter where the crankshaft is turned. if you have the dampiner off then just position the hub to where you can slide the opti on and align the opti to the pin and slide it on. thats how i did mine with no problems.

 

The 94 unvented is not tied to the dowel pin, it has a splined shaft that connects from the cam sprocket to the back of the Opti. As long as you CORRECTLY align the bump in the sprocket with the missing tooth in the splines on the shaft, and do the same on the back of the Opti, it doesn't matter whether anything was turned.

Be VERY carefull aligning the splines. If would appear that it only fits together one way, but maybe 10% of the installs fail because someone managed to mesh the splines incorrectly.

Shoebox has a nice visual aid:

http://shbox.com/1/93-94_opti.jpg

 

thought the 94's were different. if you take your time and watch what your doing then you shouldn't have a problem lining them up.

 

Thank you both, by the way injuneer-By some of your posts that I have seen, I see that you know a lot about a lot. It's good to have such knowledgeable moderators on this site. Especially for people like me lol.

 

Keep us posted on your impressions of the MSD.

 

Will do! May be awhile before I do my motor swap but I'll definetly post about it. I was going to go with the dynaspark, but I can't wait around for the gp to go through because I'm trying to get the motor back together and I thought about- a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks. The extra hundred I would have spent on the dnya can now be used for other things. Boy will I kick myself in the **** if the msd doesn't hold up. lol