Replaced the opti today. Took about 5 hours, but about an hour of that was messing with other things. I shook the old opti and there was definitely something rattling around. Unfortunately it's not the whole problem though. While I had my computer hooked up to the car, I saw that the coolant temp bounced between -40 and 190 every second or so, and rough idle came with it. I jiggled the wire around and the car just about shut off. Needless to say I just ordered a replacement connector. (The short was right at the end of the connector.) The opti definitely needed to be done though, so no regrets there.

Some pictures for you guys.

 

Figured I would post my solution for whoever comes upon this thread while searching.
Started out with an intermittent missfire, along with extended crank time and a choppy idle. Replaced the opti, which handled my idling problems, but the car was still missing and taking a long time to start. I found a short in my wiring to the temp sensor on the front of the water pump. Replaced the wiring and the car runs perfect.

It's amazing how much one sensor can affect the car.
Thanks everyone for the help.

 

Im glad you got it figured out. Im gonna be tearing into mine soon.

 

It can be fun. Sometimes. lol
What's up with yours?

 

The guy I bought mine from had a misfire and it was also the wiring to that sensor. Mamba, another thing to add to your list of things to check.