was wonding if you could put an optispark on wrong.. i took off my old one which was a summit racing one and put a gm one on.. i didnt open neither one of the optis i just took the old one off then turned the gm opti to fit on the camshaft groove to go in right.. could it be off time? or rotor in wrong place cause my car is running very poorly..

 

The answer depends on the year of your car, and whether its a vented or non-vented Opti. Why not add a signature with basic data like year, model, engine, tranny and any major mods.

If you have the vented Opti, driven by the cam dowel pin, you can insert the dowel in the wrong hole in the back of the Opti, particularly if you force it on by pulling the Opti on with the bolts. But that puts the timing so far off it isn't going to run. With the unvented Opti, driven by the splined shaft, its possible to get the shaft misaligned by a tooth or more, and the engine will run poorly.

 

Yes, these seem to get people all the time.
It's so easy to put it in wrong.

When lined up properly, the shaft slips in without any force at all.
When misaligned it goes in with little effort. You don't even have to force it with the screws.
Hold the opti up and put the shaft in correctly while looking at the key, you'll see what I mean.