As I have read through these threads, it seems as though people are always knocking aftermarket Opti cap and rotor setups..especially the MSD setup?? What's wrong with them?

 

Read them again. The MSD cap and rotor gets good reviews. It is the MSD billet opti that is unreliable which is why people say bad things about it. It is VASTLY less reliable than stock. Why should anyone say good about it then?

 

I bash on it quite a bit because it took a s**t on me after 10 miles. However, it does let users with 93-94 models to convert over to a vented opti so it's not a total paper weight. There's a guy on here that's been running one deep into the 11's/10's that built his up right. Hopefully, he can give me some insight as to how to do it right this time. The worst part was that there's only a 1 year warrenty on the product and I didn't install it till 2 years later because i ordered it out at college and wasn't able to get around to putting it in till I came home. Read again, 10 miles. Stupid rotor screws!!!!
Oh, you gotta love having the tech department turn around and deny any wrong doing on their part in terms of R&D. "Well, you must have installed it wrong". "We've never heard of any problems with rotor screws coming loose". B.S.!!!!

 

I had a MSD cap and rotor last about two minutes.

 

Why would anyone hate on the MSD Opti cap and rotor?? Because its not an improvement over stock?


I give up why????

 

My stock OEM GM dealership opti's have always lasted longer than what I read about aftermarket opti's on here. I dont buy ebay "OEM" optis either, GM dealership, my last one was from Dal @ Vandevere.

-Dustin-

 

I installed one last weekend and so far so good... but it has only run a few miles. I was impressed with the quality and liked the fact that it converted my 94 to a vented system as was stated above.

I bought mine two weeks ago and the rotor screws were on extremely tight- I was going put locktight on them but they weren't going to unscrew unless I used some serious force. We'll see how it lasts.

Has this item gone through improvements over time? from the other threads it seems that they have made changes.

I would be pissed too if someone told me I installed it wrong when it only lasted 10 miles.

 

I was one of the first to buy the MSD opti, and one of the first to post pics of it self destructing. The problems in the first year of production were many. To start with it came with a ridiculous O-ring seal that was very difficult to install correctly on the housing without it sliding up against the housing, which would then begin riding up against the rotor and in 1000 miles your car died. Then there was the problem with the silly brass screws that didn't stay in place and couldn't be tightened enough, even with loc-tite. More than a few racers had bad days at the track because of that.

Then there's the ones that just died unexpectedly. Just stopped. No reason. It's could be because the MSD employs an immoveable shaft, unlike the stock unit that has a separate one. It would appear that the separate shaft doesn't transfer the camshaft harmonics directly to the opti the way the permanent one does. But that's just a theory. We just don't know why it fails, and at $500 a unit, we don't care. They don't last any longer than the Chinese units, so we all went back to the Delco opti, because installed correctly it is reliable.

 

The rotor on mine ground it's way into the cap and left me stranded. Got it home and pulled it apart and found plastic shaving all over the place. MSD tried to say that I installed it wrong but I know that was not the case.

Went back with a new GM one and had not had any problems since. MSD has since stated that it was a problem with the gasket being the problem but I'll never buy another one, GM all the way.

 

I ran mine all summer long with no problem. It is the second opti for car that was replaced in 2000 and when I rebuilt last winter I just put the MSD cap and rotor on. I plan on converting to LTCC before the summer so it will last even longer.

 

I have a msd opti and it is working fine for me. I did use thread locker on the rotor screws. I am going to drive the car 100mi tomorrow for a dyno tune; I hope it holds up fine.

 

Besides the inital problems that I and many others have experienced, the MSD Opti has been running well with no issues for 80,000 miles in my car. Here is a link to an earlier thread concerning my initial problems -

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...ilure+analysis.

The hosting site where I put the report is no longer any good. If anyone knows a place where I can publicly post a WORD or pdf document, let me know and I'll repost my original observations with pictures.

I believe the design improvements are worth the money for a non vented original car. Others with the vented design will probably see less return on the investment. I would never buy an OEM Opti again given the great performance I have gotten from the MSD.

 

I have to agree with this. MSD have changed the gasket and made a few other improvements. Also, the bearings on the MSD are far better and it is about half the weight of the OEM unit. I still have mine though it is not installed in the car. I think it is better value to get the vented cap and rotor from MSD than to get the entire $500 unit, if you have the unvented opti. However, until I see more people come forward with high mileage MSD units, I'll stick with OEM.

 

No problems with mine. BUT I did have a problem installing the seal, you have to be carefull not to roll it off the backing plate or your rotor will rub on the cap.

 

I agree with that. I installed the cap with the Opti base out of the car so I could see and feel it to make sure it seated correctly.