It has officially died. Now I must get a new one so hopefully someone on this board will be able to help me out. Ummm the mechanic told me i'm gonna need a couple water hoses or somethin too I cant remember since they have the rip them out to get to it? I think he said water hoses? If i switched to the vented opti would I see any benefits and is there anything else you have to do besides just get the later yeared opti? If there is I think i'll just stick to the non-vented.

 

You have to swap the cam, timing set, and timing cover to go with a vented opti.

I've got 85k on all my stock cooling hoses, I've never seen a need to change them out, they're not brittle or ripped. For a daily driver tho I guess it's relatively cheap security, but they won't rip if the mechanic has a half a clue what he's doing.

 

Ehhh screw it I'll just stick with the non-vented. Do you know of some good brands to look up? I went to buy the new MSD one but it doesn't ship for another month so...

 

I have both for sale. P.M me and help me help you

 

PM sent!

 

So you can replace the opti without ripping up any of the cooling tubes? Well I dont know if the mechanic has ever worked an lt1 f-body but he has done the opti thing on the lt1 caprices. Maybe getting the opti changed in those cars are harder than the f-bodies and thats why he told me I'd need the extra hoses? So should I just tell him that there's no need for that? Also usually how long would you say an opti replacement takes?

 

it takes about 2 hours, and i also have a used opti for sale.

 

If you're saying that it takes 2 hours on an F-body then you're out of your mind. Count on that taking more like 6-8 hours. Also, lankie_25 DO NOT BUY A USED OPTI.

 

what are using, a crescent wrench or a pair of pliars? the single longest part is draining the radiator. lol
Balancer - 3 bolts, 10 minutes
radiator/fan/hoses - 20 minutes
water pump - 10 minutes
opti - 10 minutes
replacing isn't much longer, unless you're doing something wrong. If the opti doesn't slide right on, it's on wrong!

And don't be scared of a used opti, just check it out first.

 

I'd personally, get a NEW opti if you can. I would HATE to get a used one and either have it not work right or break in a short period of time, I'd rather spend the extra $ and get a new one. Thats what I did.

And when I did my opti(for the first time), I'd say it took me a solid day to do it. But I took alot of breaks and took it slow, I'm sure I culd do it much faster now but for the first time, i'd say 6 hours. Getting the waterpump off it is a PITA, and keep in mind I'm just a backyard mechanic with no lift working on my back on the driveway................

Brian

 

Do not use a Non vented opti spark at least buy the kit and change to the vented later model. And do replace the water pump, plug wires and a new set of plugs (not the LT1 GM Platium with the disc's that burn off) A bad plug wire is the kiss of death to the opti-spark as is mostiure and having the water pump above it hurts too so after you replace all of the above make sure you use some sealer around the gasket on the opti-spark so it will not let water or mostiure in. The newer style opti-spark uses a different drive pin so do you research before you jump into this as I have done this on my wifes old 94 LT1 TA and changed it to the 96 WS6 model. My 96 LT4 Vette has the vented Opti-spark and i make sure that my plug wires are in good shape and look for the weeping of cooliant that a bad water pump will start doing when it goes bad.

 

get a CSR electric water pump, no weep hole and 7-10rwhp!

 

true man, I did the meziere while I was there.

 

I have seen the electric water pump but did not realize 7-10 HP gain How much is that trick pump?

 

about $175 for the pump.