What are the best options for replacing an opti on my '94 Formula? I've just bought this car and along with adding many performance items, I want to address regular maintenance things like wires, plugs, O2 sensors, etc. The car will be for the street/strip and with a stock camshaft will never see above 6000rpm. The old one seemed to work fine on the drive home but with 130,000 miles I don't know how old it is (neither does the previous owner). While I have everything apart for other reasons I thought it might as well be changed. I can order an OEM piece from Dal and don't know if I want to spend $500 for an MSD unit. Also, what about upgrading to a vented unit? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! Scott

 

as for updating to a vented unit, it migh be cheaper to go with the MSD, since to run an OEM vented, you need:

opti $200 +
cam $100(stock)+
timing set $50(stock)+
cover $50+
harness $40
vac harness$20

might be more, but thats the big stuff

 

Assuming (big assumption) that this one lasted 12+ years and 130,000 miles should I just call Dal and order and OEM piece since everything is apart? Is the $500 MSD unit that much better? This car will be driven very little (mostly 1/4 mile at a time) and again, never over 6000rpms.

 

Yes its that much better. MSD took it and improved on 13 of the opti's weakest spots. Not to mention the MSD is virtually waterproof and you can adjust your timing +/- 5 degrees on the opti itself Trust me, i went through 5 of the stockers before the MSD, 2 due to waterpump leaking, 1 bad right out of the box, and the other 2 must have just sucked cause they didn't last too long. No problems with the MSD so far at all.