Going to change my Opti spark and water pump. What are some other things I should replace besides wires and plugs and coil?
I would like to use MSD plug wires, flow Kool water pump Petris Opti. What kind of plugs are going to last. Just trying to get my shopping list ready.
Thanks

 

Unfortunately , the opti is the weak point of the LT1 as the water pump is right above the opti and when it leaks it drips right on the opti. If you are planning on keeping your C4, I'd recommend sending your opti to Petrus (sp?) and then replace the OEM water pump with an electric water pump. That will stop the possibility of water dripping on the new opti. If you are interested look at the article I wrote in Tech tips on how I did it.

 

depends on time and money youd like to spend. If you want to tackle as much as possible (like i just finished last week) heres a great list of parts:
1. Felpro timing cover gasket - comes with the gasket and all the seals for the water pump, opti, and crank hub
2. Felpro oil pan gasket - 20% of the timing cover gasket is on the oil pan and you have to losen the pan anyways so best to replace the entire system and give your car an oil change while youre at it. Good time to clean the oil pan well too
3. ICM - find a gm replacement part theyre not too expensive. Youve got to remove the icm with the coil so might as well slap a new one in and clean the mounting bracket well
4. Throttle body air foil and coolant bypass - if you havent done this yet its great to get smoother and colder air in the tb. Both cheap and easy since youll be taking the throttle body off (not needed but makes the job easier)
5. Check all your vacuum lines and hoses that go to the throttle body. Any cracks can lean out your idle make sure the pcv and evap lines are tight and clean
6. Clean all your grounds, tidy up wiring for the icm maf iac water pump and tbp sensors
7. Use gasket tack on every gasket, and thread sealant on the water pump bolts. Well worth it
8. Clean and paint anything you remove if youd like. Timing cover looks awesome in red (ask me how i know) but if youve got rusty or oxidized pulleys, brackets, hardware etc clean em and paint em.
9. Buy lots of beer and reserve time. The opti is a royal PITA but make a full project out of it and enjoy the fruits of your labor when youre done

 

Thanks so much for the info. This helps

 

Great looking car and engine compartment.

 

Thanks. Just trying to make it reliable, fun, and take it to shows. Plan to keep it for a long time.
What plugs are you guys using. Not on a budget but not crazy money.

 

I just did my Opti, WP, etc, and a tune-up recently. For the plugs, I went with NGK TR55GP gapped to .050". So far no issues! I've never had issues with NGK plugs that I run in snowmobiles, jet skis, etc, so I usually stick to them. They were $3.47 per on RockAuto, so figure about $28 for a whole set. Seems pretty reasonable to me!

 

Thanks for the info

 

You never stated if the car was running right or overheating. If it's running fine and just overheating, i wouldn't touch the opti. Removing the water pump with the coolant all drained, shouldn't get the opti spark very wet, if at all. The coolant ports are off to the sides. Just trying to save you money and frustration. Dry and cleaned out, any factoy opti should last a long time.

Now if it's not running, I'd first verify it is bad. Verify if it's a genuine GM opti, 99% odds it's salvageable. If it is GM, clean it out with cleaner reseal and put it back on for another 100k.

 

Its running. Sometimes it has a jerk and a backfire after setting in the garage for weeks at a time. After driving a little it clears up and runs great.
I think that when it rains the concreate sweats and moisture builds up in the OPTI.
The car has 83 thousand miles on it and thought it would be a good time to change before things leave me on the side of road.

 

If your opti is original I would ask Brad the optidoctor if he would rebuild it. Dan
optisparksolutions@gmail.com

 

If you decide to go with a non-ELE. water pump I just installed a Flow Kooler water pump with one of their Robertshaw Thermostats (Look up witch one fits your 93) works great I see a big difference in the temp. I waterproof my OPTI sparks, I take them apart and around the sealing edges put a little vert little Right Stuff sealer and use Marine water and heat proof sealer on the sparks poots ,I never had a problem with water, have been in some big rainstorms, works of me .. I got a blue 93 COOL.

 

That's sharp looking and thanks for the advice.

 

I’ll be contrary here. I replaced the water pump and didn’t do the opti because the car ran well. A couple months later I was back in there replacing the opti because it was misfiring badly. If you’re going to the trouble of doing th pump, absolutely do the opti.

As for the parts, I bought a reman pump, Cardone optispark, AC Delco plugs and ignition control module, and wires, basic stuff and it works great. The car runs beautifully. You don’t need to spend all that money on “better” parts for a stockish car. The beauty of a corvette is it’s simplicity and cheap maintenance. Do the work properly, with stock parts, and enjoy your car for a long time.