Originally Posted by Dwarf Killer

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.